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by gayerthanlexa



Category: The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 59,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayerthanlexa/pseuds/gayerthanlexa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin and Lexa Woods meet by complete chance and expect nothing to come of it. For all they know, they will never see each other again after they happen to cross paths. What happens now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although Clarke planned on having a night like any other Friday evening, it turned out to be anything but normal. Clarke ends up in a pretty interesting situation, to say the least.

Clarke finished up her last bit of paperwork for the day and sighed as she put the papers into their respective folders. While she logged out of her computer, her replacement showed up – just in time. “Hi, Clarke,” the woman greeted her.

“Hey, Indra.” The two had known each other for quite some time. Indra was several years older than Clarke, but she had the wisdom of a woman far beyond her years. When Clarke was in medical school, Indra taught a few of her classes and became a mentor for the girl. Indra was who Clarke turned to whenever she was faced with a particularly difficult course. Apparently Indra saw the potential in Clarke, as she was ultimately what helped Clarke land a job at the local hospital straight out of medical school. 

Taking about ten minutes to do so, Clarke gave report on all of her patients that Indra would now be responsible for. There hadn’t been too many patients yet today, but every doctor working in an emergency room knew not to get used to a slow day, especially on a Friday. It was just barely five o’clock, still too early for most party-goers to wind up in the back of an ambulance. Though it had been a quiet day so far, everyone knew it wouldn’t last. Thankfully, Clarke had bribed Indra to cover the last two hours of her shift so she could leave early. Though it meant that Clarke would eventually have to make it up to her by covering one of Indra’s shifts, she was grateful for having a friend who would do such a favor.

“So, you never did tell me why you wanted off early tonight…”

Clarke laughed, knowing what Indra wanted to hear. “Today is Lincoln’s birthday. Apparently his family is throwing him a party tonight, so he begged Octavia to throw a pre-party to help him get through the night of family fun. He’s dreading having to answer a million questions about the wedding.”

“How’s that going, by the way?”

Octavia, one of Clarke’s best friends, had been engaged to her boyfriend for a few months and they were in the depths of wedding planning. They had four more months to go, but Octavia was insistent that they get everything sorted out early. Clarke and her other best friend, Raven, had gone wedding dress shopping a week before. To her surprise, Octavia only tried on a few dresses before finding “the one.” With that out of the way, Clarke hoped that Octavia would at least relax a little bit with the planning. No matter how much the girls warned her to not get burnt out, Octavia was determined to get everything done now. In fact, Clarke was surprised that Octavia was taking the night off from planning in order to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday.

Indra and Clarke discussed Clarke’s friends for a few moments, but not without Indra implying that she had hoped she was covering the rest of the shift so Clarke could go on a date. Clarke had taken a few months off from dating and relationships to focus on her job. Her last relationship didn’t end on the best terms, leaving Clarke heartbroken, and she had found that the best way to mend her own heart was through distractions. It just so happened to be that saving lives was the best distraction for Clarke. 

After thanking Indra – for the millionth time – for covering the last two hours of her shift, Clarke gathered her bags from the staff locker room and hurried out to her car. The whole drive to her apartment was spent well over the speed limit, but Clarke would never hear the end of it from Octavia if she were late to her only night out this week with her best friends.

_____________________________

When Clarke stepped into her friends’ favorite bar, she was only a few minutes later than the time Octavia had told – well, more like ordered – her to be there. She had rushed home, showered, and gotten dressed in record time, much to her surprise. When she found her friends sitting at a table near the back of the bar, Octavia didn’t even scold her for being a matter of seconds late. Still, she looked irritated. Clarke greeted her two best friends, took a seat next to Raven, and then bit the bullet. “What’s wrong, O?” she asked wearily.

Octavia huffed before responding. “Lincoln’s boss made him stay late. He’ll be leaving any time now, but _still_.”

“Basically she’s mad because something didn’t completely go her way,” Raven translated. Octavia flipped her off in response. Clarke just sat back and chuckled at her friends’ banter.

A few minutes later, a handsome waiter with blue eyes brought over a drink for each of the girls, which Octavia ordered prior to Clarke’s arrival. Clarke sipped on her beer as Raven and Octavia continued to go back and forth with their banter. They had done this since the day the girls met; Clarke was already friends with Raven when Octavia started an argument with Clarke in the middle of their English class during their sophomore year of high school. The two ended up in detention following their argument, but the two girls somehow ended up bonding that day when they were stuck in detention together for two hours. A few weeks later, Clarke introduced Raven to Octavia, and then after that the three became inseparable. 

Changing the subject, Clarke decided to ask Octavia about her wedding planning, even though she already knew just about every detail. “On Monday, I have to call the flower shop to schedule an appointment to pick out the bouquets and table decorations. I also need to meet with the caterers next Friday to discuss the food for the reception. We’re thinking about serving chicken and…”

The girl went on, attempting to tell the others about all of her plans, but it was hard to follow. Finally, Raven said, “What will you need us for?”

The three of them worked together on a lot of the planning, which they really didn’t mind. They were just happy that Octavia and Lincoln had found each other in college. From the first time Clarke and Raven met him, they knew it was meant to be. The two had always teased Octavia about their future wedding and now it was really happening. They were the definition of true love, a love that Clarke secretly envied. 

“So,” Octavia said, “what about you and your girl, Raven? Do we get to meet her yet?”

Raven blushed, as she always did when her friends brought up her girlfriend. They hadn’t been together for too long, so she was paranoid that she would jinx the relationship if she allowed her friends to meet her significant other. “She’s great. We were actually talking about you guys meeting her sometime soon. Are you guys free next weekend?”

Clarke and Octavia both squealed. This was Raven’s first relationship and it was killing them to not know their best friend’s girlfriend. They had heard some tidbits about Luna, but Raven was keeping most of the details to herself. Raven was clearly an introvert who valued her privacy, which her friends respected. Although they were definitely feeling the suspense, they wanted to give Raven the space she needed. However, once she said that she was ready to introduce Luna to them, the girls were completely ecstatic.

After making plans to meet Luna the following Saturday, Octavia received a phone call from Lincoln. Octavia answered her phone and Clarke turned to Raven. “How are you feeling, Rae?” Clarke asked seriously.

“The pain is bad, but I’m managing. I’m seeing my doctor soon to see if he can do anything to manage the pain,” Raven explained with a tentative smile. Raven had been in a devastating car wreck last year, leaving her with a leg damaged beyond repair. Her surgeon amputated the left leg and Raven spent the following months learning how to get around using a prosthetic. Nearly a year out, the prosthetic was the least of Raven’s worries – however, the pain was a different story. Raven didn’t talk about the pain much, but the doctor in Clarke knew it was more substantial than Raven would ever admit. She was the queen at putting on a brave face.

Clarke reached out and squeezed her friend’s arm. “You know we’re here if you need anything, right?”

Raven nodded and smiled. Just as she was about to thank Clarke, Octavia interrupted. She suddenly looked frustrated all over again as she threw her phone to her lap. “As if tonight couldn’t get any worse, Lincoln’s car won’t start. I have to go pick him up from work.”

“Will you have time to come back here for the pre-party?” Clarke asked, bummed.

Octavia looked at the time on her phone and sighed loudly. “He’s thirty minutes away and the party with his family is in an hour, so probably not. God, this is so not what I needed to happen,” she cried. 

The girls agreed to wrap up early, much to their collective disappointment and Octavia’s annoyance. Raven’s apartment was on the way to Lincoln’s work, so it only made sense for Octavia to drop her off there on her way to pick up her boyfriend. Raven and Octavia both felt bad for leaving Clarke at the bar alone on a Friday night. She assured them that she would be fine, although she honestly felt sad that they were leaving without her. They spent the majority of every weekend together, which wouldn’t happen this weekend. She told herself that it would give her the opportunity to catch up on some sleep that she certainly needed. 

“I’m so sorry about this,” Octavia said as she hugged Clarke goodbye.

Clarke hugged both of her friends. “It’s no problem! I hope you guys have a good night. Tell Linc I said ‘happy birthday,’ okay? Good luck with his family tonight.”

Octavia agreed and Raven said that she would give Clarke a call later to keep her company. After they left, Clarke sat back down at the table and pulled out her phone. Like the lame person she was, she took the time to go through her emails that she let pile up in her inbox all week long. She considered ordering another drink afterward, and then she remembered the bottle of wine in her fridge that was left over from a few weekends ago. 

Clarke paid her tab and gathered her things before heading to the door. On her way out, she saw a girl stumbling toward the door. The girl was a tall brunette wearing skinny jeans, a loose white top, and heels, which weren’t helping her stay steady on her feet. Clarke watched the girl reach for the door, but she nearly missed and almost fell right on her face. Concerned for her safety, Clarke weaved through a few people to get to the door faster. “Here, let me help you,” Clarke said, holding the door for the drunken girl. 

The girl stumbled her way out, mumbling something unintelligible to the girl who held the door. Clarke let the door shut, but stood in place as she watched the girl attempt to stumble down the sidewalk. She nearly fell more times than Clarke could count; when she began to sway even more, Clarke ran over to her side. She wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist to help her to the ground before she fell. “Are you alright?” she asked the girl.

No response. The girl was literally falling asleep and no amount of jostling would get her to stay awake. Clarke continued to attempt to talk to the girl, to get even just her name out of her, and the only noises that came from the girl were a few grumbles. From her own drunken shenanigans, Clarke knew that the girl just wanted to be left alone to sleep of the alcohol. Unfortunately, Clarke couldn’t just leave her there outside a bar on a Friday evening. She knew the girl who was nearly asleep would be no help, so Clarke reached for the girl’s purse and pulled out a cellphone and wallet. Thankfully, there was an ID in the wallet.

 _Lexa Woods_. Clarke was glad to have her name, but that was only one hurdle that she jumped. Hoping to find someone to call and pick up Lexa to take her wherever home was, she grabbed the girl’s phone. Of course, the phone required a code to get in. Clarke rolled her eyes and sighed with frustration. 

“Who are you, Lexa?” Clarke whispered.

A few people left the bar in groups, but none of them seemed to notice the blonde sitting with the passed out brunette. Clarke tried shaking the girl again, knowing full well that she wouldn’t get a response. She had no idea what to do with the girl. It was obvious that she had come to the bar alone because, as of right now, nobody had come looking for her. She considered calling the police, though she ended up deciding that there had to be a better solution. 

Maybe how she was raised had an impact on what she chose to do next. From a young age, she remembered her mom teaching her to treat others how you wish to be treated. She knew that if someone was in need and she was able to help, she had to do everything within her power to do so. Ultimately, that was what led Clarke to apply for medical school. She possessed the ability to help others and it would be a shame to let those abilities go to waste, so during her sophomore year of high school Clarke decided she would become a doctor.

Her friends would have told Clarke that she was out of her mind for what she was about to do, but she didn’t know what else to do to help the stranger. It wasn’t in her nature to sit by and let others suffer, so she had to do something to help Lexa. Making up her mind, Clarke gathered Lexa’s purse, putting the phone and wallet back inside, and then slung the purse over her own shoulder. Figuring the girl could would be okay on her own for a minute or so, Clarke ran back inside and up to the bar where a barista was still serving drinks. She quickly ordered a bottle of water, grabbed a bill from her purse to throw at the barista, and then darted back outside. Lexa hadn’t moved an inch.

“You’re going to hate me for this,” Clarke muttered. She uncapped the bottle of water and grimaced, knowing just how much the girl would want to kill her in a few seconds. _It’s the only way_ , she told herself.

Quickly, Clarke took a step toward the sleeping girl and turned the bottle upside down, squeezing to make the water come out faster. The ice cold water instantly made the girl gain consciousness when it splashed over her. When the girl suddenly sprang up into a sitting position, Clarke took the opportunity to loop her arm around the girl’s waist and pulled her onto her feet. She knew that the girl wouldn’t be awake enough to say anything, but Clarke hoped that she would be able to at least walk toward the vehicle down the block.

The walk wasn’t easy, but it went smoother than expected. Whenever Lexa began to fall asleep, Clarke would yank on the girl’s waist. Clarke didn’t care if Lexa passed out once in the car, as long as they both got there with little to no injuries. 

The trek was only about a block away, thankfully. Once they were close, Clarke pressed the button on her car key to unlock the vehicle, suddenly extremely glad that she paid the car dealership extra money in order to have that feature. Lexa’s head was starting to droop again as Clarke reached out to open the passenger door of her car. Clarke managed to get the half sleeping girl into the car without any mishaps. Before closing the car door, Clarke reached around Lexa to fasten the girl’s seatbelt. 

Clarke walked around to the driver’s side of her car and slipped into the seat. She stared at the girl next to her for a quick second, mostly to assure that she was still breathing. Clarke had no idea what she would do with her once they got to Clarke’s apartment. As she stared into the darkness of the night, she calculated how she would get Lexa out of the car and into the apartment building. Clarke was strong and Lexa was quite petite, but there was no way Clarke would be able to carry her inside to sleep off her impending hangover. Clarke shook her head as she put her car into gear, somewhat cursing herself for having the gene that made her care so deeply about others.

What had she gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I'll take any kind of criticism/feedback that you may have. :)


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you goes out to those of you who read the first chapter! Posting my writing made me super nervous, but it makes me so happy to know that you guys are actually taking the time to read what I write. Thank you!

Clarke pulled into her normal parking spot and cut the engine. She looked over at the girl in the passenger seat and sighed. It has only been a twenty minute drive, but Lexa looked like she had been passed out for hours. The girl was slightly slumped over to her left, only being held up by the seatbelt that she was using for a pillow. Clarke shook her head as she wondered how she would get Lexa out of the car into her apartment. It seemed impossible, but suddenly she was glad that she lived on the first floor of the apartment building; Lexa may have woken up on the floor of the lobby if Clarke didn’t live on the entry level. There was no way Clarke would ever safely get both of them up even one flight of stairs.

Before getting out of the car, Clarke had to laugh at her situation. Her co-workers had joked earlier in the day that she should try to bring someone home with her. She had no idea that it would actually happen and she certainly didn’t think it would happen like this. It had to be some sick joke. Though Clarke did enjoy taking care of others and her plan to help Lexa seemed like a good idea in the first place, it was finally hitting Clarke how ridiculous it was.

Biting the bullet, Clarke grabbed her keys and stepped out of the vehicle into the cool night. She walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door. She lightly shook the girl’s shoulder and said, “Time to wake up!”

Her enthusiasm did very little to stir Lexa. Clarke tried shaking her a little harder, only for the girl to moan in protest. Clarke considered just leaving her in the car, but she couldn’t do that to her. With one hand, she lifted the girl’s head and used her other hand to undo the seatbelt. The girl’s limbs were limp as Clarke wrapped one arm behind the girl’s back and pulled her legs out of the car using her free hand. Once Lexa’s feet were on the ground, Clarke used both arms to hold the sleeping girl in an upright sitting position. Although Clarke was proud of herself for getting her at least halfway out of the vehicle, she knew she still had much further to go before she was safe to celebrate any kind of victory.

“Okay, you seriously need to wake up now,” she told the girl. “I’m not carrying you inside.”

She wasn’t sure how much good it would do, but Clarke put an arm under each of Lexa’s arms and attempted to pull the limp girl into a standing position. Lexa moaned again, though she did lift her head for a few seconds before dropping it again. Clarke huffed in frustration. Clarke couldn’t think of any other way to get her out of the vehicle, so she gripped her hands together behind the girl’s back and pulled again. This time was more successful: the girl stirred and actually helped Clarke get her onto her own feet. Lexa did seem more alert once the cool breeze hit her face, but she certainly wasn’t awake enough to walk on her own or open her eyes beyond a sleepy squint.

The girl was conscious enough to bare at least some of her weight, which allowed Clarke to position herself to where she had one arm linked with the girl to keep her standing. As long as she stayed alert enough to get inside the building, Clarke could deal with whatever came after that. 

Clarke used her free hand to grab her keys and slam her car door shut. Making the most of the energy the girl seemed to have gained, Clarke pulled the girl’s arm to get her to take a step. “Let’s get to the door, okay? Can you do that for me?” Clarke pleaded.

All she got in return was an unintelligible mumble. She figured that was better than nothing.

Taking a few steps toward the front door of the apartment building, Clarke was hopeful that she would be able to get them safely inside. Clarke was able to get to the door, unlocking it by scanning her access card on the wall, without any mishaps. All the way inside, Clarke was encouraging the girl to stay awake by continually urging her to put one foot in front of the other. Lexa’s head started to droop again as they made their way past the building’s front desk and the wall of mailboxes. They only had to make it down a short hallway before they were at the apartment door and Clarke was determined to get there without either of them landing on the floor.

Clarke had to use the wall in the hallway for leverage a few times, but they managed to get to the door of her apartment. She hurriedly swiped her keycard as she was fairly certain that Lexa was about to lose consciousness like she did during the car ride over. Unfortunately, Clarke had used nearly all of her strength practically dragging Lexa inside and she was losing steam quickly. 

The one-bedroom apartment obviously wasn’t made for more than one person to stay, but Clarke had adapted for the nights where her friends would stay over. Although she had a large couch in the living room, Clarke wanted to be able to check on her periodically overnight, so she opted to have Lexa sleep on the smaller couch in her bedroom. As they made their way to the bedroom, though, Lexa looked as if she was seconds away from lying down and not getting back up until after the alcohol wore off. Clarke cursed at her, managed to get a few more steps out of her into the bedroom, and then she started to fall. Fortunately, Clarke caught her before either of them hit the floor. They were only a few feet away from Clarke’s bed, but the couch was where she wanted the girl to sleep was further away. In a split second decision, Clarke conceded and just dragged Lexa to her own bed. Clarke let go of her and then Lexa simply collapsed backward onto the bed with a small thud. 

Clarke shook her head with slight amusement, as the girl was already fast asleep. “What a fucking nightmare tonight turned out to be,” she mused. She had to laugh, no matter how much of a twist the night had taken.

She attempted to drag Lexa further onto the queen size bed so she would at least look slightly comfortable. She was already snoring as Clarke positioned a pillow under the girl’s heavy head and covered her with a thin sheet. Clarke thought the girl would be uncomfortable sleeping in her skinny jeans, but she wasn’t about to undress this stranger. She already knew that Lexa would be confused as hell when she woke up in an unfamiliar bed, so she wasn’t going to add in the factor of waking up only partially dressed. 

Stripping out of her own clothes, Clarke changed into her usual pajamas, which only consisted of a baggy t-shirt with the name of her alma mater and a pair of shorts. After she changed, she padded to the bathroom to wash off her makeup. She planned on just lying down, but her stomach started growling as she grabbed a spare pillow and blanket to use. Returning with a sandwich, she curled up on the small couch in her bedroom with her food and phone. 

On Facebook, Clarke scrolled through a few pictures that Octavia had posted from Lincoln’s party. It looked like they were having a better time than Octavia or Lincoln expected. There was a selfie of just her friend and her fiancé, which put a smile on Clarke’s face. She truly was happy for them and, no matter how tired she was getting of the wedding planning, she secretly was looking forward to the wedding day. She had been to very few weddings, none of which she really cared about. Clarke was just excited to share the exciting day with her best friends, whom she felt like she had known for an eternity.

She couldn’t help but to feel some jealousy as she stared at the picture of Octavia and Lincoln. Just from the picture, she could tell how much they loved each other; they were happy. Clarke had been happy at some point, too, but it had been a while since she felt like she had something of her own to look forward to. Although her friends made her feel loved and fulfilled, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling like she was missing out on something.

Realizing that she was thinking herself into a shitty mood, Clarke checked on Lexa one more time before curling up on her couch. She was still breathing, which was what Clarke was mainly monitoring. Clarke was completely exhausted, but that didn’t stop her from noticing Lexa’s beauty. The girl’s hair had somehow made its way to her face, so Clarke reached out to gently brush it away from her face. Lying there oblivious to the world, Lexa looked so peaceful that Clarke had to smile. She knew Lexa would be incredibly confused by the time she woke up; however, for the time being, Clarke had to revel in how angelic this stranger looked.

Clarke pulled the sheet up onto Lexa so it was up to her chin, where Clarke carefully creased the sheet. Turning toward her own makeshift bed for the evening, Clarke proceeded to tuck herself in. She only stared at the ceiling for a few moments before exhaustion invaded every fiber of her being. Her eyes fluttered shut as she drifted off to sleep.

The last words she spoke before completely letting the sleep take over were, “Goodnight, Lexa Woods.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter, but the next chapter will hopefully make up for it. Just like before, I'll take any kind of criticism/feedback that you may have. :)
> 
> What will happen when Lexa wakes up?!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Lexa is a mess. What's new there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! The last week hasn't been all that great, but here we are. Enjoy! :)

_Suddenly, all of her students got out of their seats and began throwing things at Lexa. She had to duck several times in order to avoid the flying pencils and backpacks. All she had been doing just moments before was teaching her class of kindergarteners how to write their names. How that turned into an uprising amongst twenty kids, all around the age of five, Lexa would never understand._

_Lexa tried to gain control over her students, but to no avail. As students began getting up from their desks, Lexa made a bee-line for the door of her classroom. Unfortunately, her students were masterminds and had planned ahead in case their teacher tried to escape – there was one child, admittedly her favorite student, outside the classroom, holding the door shut. The kids had begun turning over their desks. Who knew that Lexa would be facing an uprising when she came to work today?_

_Out of nowhere, the majority of her students began making their way towards Lexa. Each student had a pencil in their hands, holding them out as if they were pitchforks. Lexa slowly backed away from the angry crowd until she felt her back press against the chalkboard. In a matter of moments, the students had their teacher cornered._

_Lexa was never one for small, confined places. She felt a scream bubble in her throat as the kids close in around her. They began jabbing her with their makeshift pitchforks as she finally shrieked..._

Lexa’s eyes flew open with a start. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute as she took in her surroundings. Even more panic set in once Lexa realized she had literally no idea where she was or whose bed she was in. She had no recollection of what had happened over the last twelve hours or so, which did nothing for the ball of anxiety that had settled in the pit of her stomach. She quickly threw back the blanket that she was covered with and sighed with relief when she realized that – thankfully – she was still fully clothed. Considering how much she probably drank last night, still wearing clothes didn’t mean very much, but it calmed her nerves slightly.

Based off of how much her head spun when she sat up in the unfamiliar bed, Lexa had drank way too much the night before.

Lexa was about to start searching for her purse when she heard light footsteps coming toward the bedroom. She quickly became defensive and searched the room for a nearby weapon if she needed it. Lexa flew out of the bed, grabbed a lamp from the nightstand, ripped its cord from the wall, and held it out in front of her, as if it would fend off any intruders. It took only a few seconds for her to realize that _she_ was technically the intruder in someone else’s home, but she was still on the defense. She was shaking with fear as she heard someone about to enter the room. 

_____________________________

Clarke was in the kitchen when she heard some sort of commotion coming from her bedroom. She quickly poured some steaming coffee from her coffee pot into a mug and grabbed a few Aspirins from her medicine cabinet. She made her way to her room, she braced herself for whatever reaction she would be facing from the stranger that slept peacefully all night in Clarke’s bed. Clarke didn’t sleep very well because she missed her bed and she was concerned for Lexa. She spent most of her restless night playing out every scenario she could think of for whenever Lexa rose from her stupor. 

What she didn’t expected was to enter her bedroom and see Lexa standing in the far corner of the room, holding out her favorite lamp as if it was a shield. Clarke figured she meant to look fierce and daring; all she could do was laugh. “Don’t come any closer!” the girl shouted.

“Hold up there, buddy,” Clarke said, stifling another laugh. She set the coffee and medication on the bed as a peace offering. She then put her hands up as if she were surrendering. “You can put my lamp down now. I’m not going to hurt you. I brought you some coffee and Aspirin for your hangover. I’m guessing you have a pounding headache.”

Lexa visibly relaxed in the slightest way, yet she still didn’t return the lamp to its rightful place on the nightstand. Although her head was pounding, she wasn’t ready to let her guard down. The blonde standing before her seemed fairly harmless, but she wasn’t about to take any risks. “Who are you?” Lexa questioned. 

“I’m Clarke. Clarke Griffin. I would explain what’s going on here, but I’d really appreciate it if you put the lamp down first,” she said.

Clarke watched in amusement as the brunette slowly inched toward the nightstand, never once dropping her gaze from Clarke. Slowly, Lexa put the lamp down. Clarke finally put her arms down as she saw the girl relax more. Lexa’s eyes darted down to the peace offerings on the bed and accepted them. It wasn’t until Clarke mentioned the hangover that Lexa realized how terrible she actually felt. “Explain,” Lexa ordered. She tossed the pills into her mouth and took a gulp of the coffee. 

“Well,” Clarke started as she gingerly took a seat on the edge of her bed, “you had a lot to drink last night.”

“I don’t remember anything, but my body sure seems to.”

Lexa’s heart skipped a few beats when she heard Clarke’s soft giggle. No matter how scared and confused she was, Lexa couldn’t deny that the girl in front of her was attractive, even in her pajamas. Her sloppy blond curls rested just above her shoulders and she had a bright smile. Lexa chided herself for being so distracted by this stranger when she should have been more worried about _how she ended up in the girl’s bed._

“Yeah, I didn’t see how much you drank, but you were having a hard time standing upright in the bar. I was headed out when I saw you stumbling toward the door. I was worried, so I stood outside the bar for a few minutes to see where you were going and if you were okay.” Clarke noticed a blush appear on Lexa’s face. The girl dropped her head into her hands in complete embarrassment. Clarke continued, “You weren’t walking straight and you looked like you were about to face plant. I ran over and helped you to the ground, thinking you just needed a few minutes to breathe and then you would be okay. Instead, you blacked out.”

Lexa groaned and again Clarke laughed. “I tried figuring out if you were with anyone, but it was getting late and nobody seemed to be looking for you. I went through your purse to see if I could find any information on you…all I was able to find was your ID. Because I couldn’t leave you there lying on the sidewalk and obviously had no idea where you live, I decided to just bring you with me and let you sleep here.”

Clarke finished the story, explaining how much fun it was trying to get her inside. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to do any of that,” Lexa said.

“Like I said, I couldn’t just leave you there.”

“Why were you drinking like that, anyway?” Clarke asked.

Lexa rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get the teaching job I applied for.”

Although Lexa was truly grateful that a stranger cared about her safety so much, she felt bad for imposing. She also had no idea why someone first thought when seeing someone blacked out drunk was to bring them home with you, but she was glad that Clarke happened to be there. She could only imagine what would have happened if some other stranger had seen a twenty-something year old lying on the ground. 

That reminded her.

“Um, I don’t know how to ask this, but…” Lexa looked down nervously at her mug of coffee, tracing the outline of the mug with her index finger. “Last night, when you brought me here… We didn’t… Did we–?”

Clarke’s eyes widened. “No, of course not! I would never–”

“Okay, good. I just had to make sure. I’m sorry.”

 _Not that I wouldn’t mind sometime, if I were sober…_ Lexa shook the thought from her mind. She was disgusted with herself for even thinking such a thing about a stranger. She was a cute stranger, though. _God, Lexa, get it under control._

Clarke noticed that the girl was deep in thought, but she didn’t question it. Instead, she offered to make breakfast for Lexa, thinking it might help with the hangover. However, she declined the offer, saying she might throw up if she even saw food. Lexa did take up her offer on more coffee, though, so the two girls went out to Clarke’s kitchen. As she sipped her hot drink, a thought popped up. “I’m not keeping you from work or anything, am I?”

“Oh, no. I’m off today and my friends are all busy. Is there somewhere you need to be?”

Lexa shook her head. “No, but I should getting home and stop taking up your Saturday. How far are we from the bar, anyway?”

Clarke said it was about a twenty minute drive. Lexa frowned. “Is something wrong?” Clarke asked.

“I live a few blocks away from the bar. I suppose I can call for a cab to take me home,” she said.

“That’s not necessary. I have some errands to do today anyway, so I can just drop you off on my way. It’s no problem.” Clarke was only slightly fibbing: it really was no problem for her to take Lexa home, but she didn’t actually have any errands to run. She had nothing to do, so she figured she might as well take the girl home and spare her from having to pay an outrageous cab fee. The two went back and forth for several minutes; Lexa insisted on calling a cab while Clarke assured her that taking her home was no issue. Finally, Lexa conceded. “Let me go change quick and grab my keys.”

Lexa awkwardly sat in the kitchen as she waited for Clarke to reappear from her bedroom. Clarke’s kitchen wasn’t all that exciting, but there were a few paintings hung up in the living room. Lexa found herself walking over to them and admiring their beauty. Her favorite was a multicolor sunflower that was blowing in the wind. Lexa was still staring at the pieces of art when Clarke appeared in day clothes; she smiled when she saw the girl admiring her art. Lexa jumped when she heard Clarke speak from behind her. “I finished that one last week.”

The brunette turned around and her jaw slightly dropped. “You painted these?” she asked.

Clarke nodded. “In what spare time I have, I paint.”

Staring at the paintings for a few more seconds, Lexa realized how much she wished she were artistic. She hadn’t even tried drawing since she was in elementary school when she brought home a drawing from her art class and her sister laughed at her. She hadn’t tried anything artsy since then. She realized that she was more book smart than anything.

Clarke pulled Lexa out of her thoughts and grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter. Before leaving, Lexa asked if Clarke knew where her heels were and Clarke said she had left them in her car last night. Both girls were silent as they made their way to the lobby of the apartment building. They stopped long enough for Clarke to retrieve her mail from Friday and then walked out to Clarke’s car. Lexa told Clarke to get them onto the interstate and then she would direct Clarke to her apartment. The drive was quiet, with only music from the radio filling the air. The first time either of them said anything was when Clarke pulled off of the interstate and Lexa had to give her the directions. 

The apartment really only was about three blocks away from the bar where both girls were the previous night. Lexa was probably just attempting to walk home when she left the bar, but there was no way she would have made it there in one piece. Or at all.

Lexa’s apartment was more upscale than Clarke’s, as far as she could tell from the outside. When Clarke pulled to a stop in front of the building, Lexa gathered her purse and heels. As she stepped out of the vehicle, she turned back and gave Clarke a sweet smile. That was when Clarke realized how gorgeous this stranger really was. _Don’t even start,_ Clarke told herself.

“Thanks again for everything, Clarke. I really appreciate it,” Lexa said.

Clarke smiled back at her. “It’s no problem.”

Lexa retreated to her apartment building and Clarke sat there to make sure she got inside okay. Once she saw Lexa go inside, Clarke wondered what to do with her day. She was tired from being up most of the night, but she was too awake to head home and go back to sleep. Remembering that she had skipped breakfast, she opted to stop by her favorite café that she rarely got to eat at anymore. She took her time with eating her buttery pancakes, reminiscing over the last twelve hours of her life. It had been odd, but it could have been a lot worse. At least it had been spent with a pretty girl.

_Shut up, Clarke._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Octavia meet Luna, Raven's girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't torture you guys and not give you any Clexa, so there's a tidbit at the end... :)

The following week came and went for Clarke. That Friday and Saturday were her only days off, so she spent the first day catching up on sleep and lounging on her couch. During the day on Saturday, Clarke and Octavia went over wedding plans while Raven spent the day with Luna. That night the three best friends would gather at Raven’s apartment so they could meet her infamous girlfriend. 

Clarke settled in at Octavia’s dining room table with her third cup of coffee and sighed. They had papers and papers of drawings laid out before them on the table, trying to figure out the setup and seating arrangements for the wedding reception. “What if the head table here for the people in the wedding party?” Clarke suggested, pointing at one of the maps they had drawn out. “That way, the party table is surrounded by all of the guests.”

“That could work,” Octavia considered. “But I still like the idea of us being closest to the dance floor.”

They bounced ideas off of each other for what seemed like days. They weren’t able to solidify anything because there were too many options and eventually Octavia actually allowed them to take a break from the wedding planning. They still had several hours before they had to be at Raven’s apartment, so they decided to pop some popcorn and start watching a new TV show together. Octavia had bought the show weeks ago but had never gotten around to starting it. The girls agreed to watch it, even though Octavia had heard that the reviews on the movie were awful. “What’s the show about, O?”

“It’s set in this post-apocalyptic world where some kids from space are sent to live on Earth. Everyone I know hates it, but I figure I might as well find out for myself.”

Octavia and Clarke both ended up falling asleep by the third episode. “No wonder it was a flop,” Clarke muttered after waking from her nap.

“It had so much potential, but then it just fell flat.” Octavia sounded utterly disappointed.

The girls only had an hour before Raven was expecting them, so they quickly changed clothes and hopped into Octavia’s car. They picked up two bottles of wine on their way out; Raven told them to bring dessert and Octavia said wine would suffice, arguing that it technically was made out of fruit and fruit could be a dessert. Clarke just shook her head and laughed. 

The short drive to Raven’s apartment went by quicker than usual as the girls chatted about how excited they were to finally meet Raven’s girlfriend. Clarke could only imagine how nervous Raven was. Raven hadn’t even told her friends for a few weeks that she and Luna were together, and then it took another week or two before she would tell them her girlfriend’s name. She was just an extremely private person, so Clarke and Octavia knew that it had to be getting serious if she was finally ready for them to meet Luna. Clarke was proud of Raven for opening up to her friends. She had come a long way, considering Raven didn’t come out as pansexual until they were in college, even though Clarke and Octavia had been suspecting it for years.

“I can’t believe she _finally_ has a girlfriend. I’ve been waiting for this day to come for years,” Clarke mused. “She’s all grown up now.”

“Speaking of girlfriends…”

Clarke looked over at her friend who was driving. “What?”

Octavia pointedly glared at Clarke and raised her eyebrows. Clarke groaned.

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend to speak of, O.”

“Boyfriend?”

Clarke just rolled her eyes in response. Sure, Clarke was lonely sometimes, but she was okay with being on her own for the most part. Besides, she didn’t have much free time between work, her friends, and sleeping. She didn’t want to rush into anything; if something comes along, fine. Clarke just didn’t want to actively search for someone. She of all people knew that pressuring a relationship into working out was just a recipe for disaster. She wouldn’t make _that_ mistake again.

Thankfully, Octavia let the subject drop. After a few minutes of quiet, they were pulling into a parking spot outside Raven’s building. The girls got out of the car and squealed in excitement, thrilled all over again to meet Raven’s mystery girl. They each grabbed a bottle of wine and went inside. Raven lived on the first floor right inside the entrance. Clarke knocked on the door and heard Raven yell, _“Come in!”_

Octavia practically shoved Clarke out of the way and burst through the door, apparently even more eager than she appeared to be to meet Luna. Clarke stepped into the living room and heard Raven yell something about being out there in a second. The two girls set the bottles of wine on the coffee table as Raven appeared from her small kitchen. Clarke immediately started giggling, as her friend looked more frazzled than she’d ever seen her before. “Rae, you okay?” Clarke laughed.

“It’s all good,” Raven said, smiling. “Just…be cool, okay?”

“We already discussed this, Raven. We’ll be on our best behavior,” Octavia swore with what Raven hoped was sincerity. Raven didn’t look all that convinced, though.

Raven rolled her eyes and told her friends to behave. She then turned her on her heels to bring out Luna. On her way in, Octavia whispered just loud enough so the girl in the kitchen wouldn’t hear. “Hey, Clarke, do you think they’ve _done it_ yet?”

Clarke nearly died of laughter as Raven spun back around and flipped her friend off. “First of all,” she started, “you’re a bitch. Second of all, you sound like a third grader.”

“She didn’t deny it!” Octavia observed.

Raven was still glaring at the two girls – who were cackling far too loudly – when Luna rounded the corner from the kitchen. The girl had thick, brown, wavy hair that surrounded her oval face. Her eyes were hard but somehow still welcoming. She was smiling widely as she sat a pan down on the dining table. She had a hand extended as she approached Clarke and Octavia. “It’s so nice to meet you,” she said as she shook both girls’ hands. 

Clarke felt herself grinning at Luna. “It’s nice to finally meet you as well.”

“Luna, this is Clarke and Octavia,” Raven said, pointing at each girl respectively.

Luna continued to smile. “I’ve heard so much about you both,” she said.

Octavia was just about to say something when her doorbell rang, making the four of them jump in sync. Luna said something about pizza and ran over to answer the door. Clarke gave Raven a thumbs up, which made her blush even further. They were feet apart, but Clarke could feel how nervous her friend was. Octavia just stood there and chuckled to herself, probably enjoying the anxiousness in the room. Clarke was just about to say something when Luna returned with the pizzas.

“We’ll just eat here in the living room,” Raven decided.

The girls piled onto Raven’s couched and dived into the pizza. They started eating and then Octavia jumped up to get four wine glasses. “By the way,” Raven said, “we made brownies because I knew O would consider wine a dessert.”

“Hey, it could be a four course meal for all I care,” Octavia said.

Clarke laughed and looked at Luna. “She swears she doesn’t have a drinking problem, but…”

Octavia playfully smacked Clarke’s arm and denied everything. “Stop, guys,” Raven pleaded. “It’s okay, anyway. Luna makes amazing brownies and this time she let me help make them.”

Clarke could just feel that Octavia was going to make some kind of remark that would embarrass the hell out of Raven, so she intervened. “So, Luna, Raven hasn’t told us a whole lot about you yet. What do you do?”

Luna explained that she currently worked at a summer camp with young kids. Clarke asked Luna a few more questions, revealing that she was also going into her third year of nursing school, which she entered after obtaining her degree in biology first. When asked about her family, she said she had two younger siblings. She lived with her mom and sisters, but her dad moved away when he divorced her mom. It sounded as though Luna were closer to her sisters than she was either of her parents. 

“I think that’s enough grilling for now,” Raven said. Luna quietly said that she didn’t mind, but Raven insisted that they change subjects. The girls poured their second glass of wine and decided that they would watch a movie. They picked a cheesy comedy and Octavia grabbed the pan of brownies Luna had made, shutting the lights off on her way back into the living room. 

Throughout the movie, Clarke noticed from the corner of her eye the movements between Raven and Luna. She saw them almost lace their fingers together a few times, but they quickly pulled away as if they suddenly remembered that there were people around them. Eventually, though, Raven wrapped an arm around Luna’s neck and Luna curled into Raven’s side. Clarke nearly melted when she saw Luna rest her head on Raven’s shoulder. Clarke smiled into the darkness and resisted the urge to look over at them being cute together.

It was times like these when Clarke found herself missing being in a relationship. Both of her best friends were obviously happily in a relationship and she was incredibly happy for them, but she still caught herself wishing that she had someone, too. It wasn’t necessarily the physical aspect she missed – it was more of the connection that she craved. She had that connection with her previous relationship, though the connection wasn’t strong enough to hold her and Finn together. They had been together for quite a while and then Finn announced that he was moving across the country for his job, regardless of whether Clarke decided to go with. It broke her and, honestly, it made her somewhat scared to find that connection again. It was a risk that she wasn’t sure when she would be ready to take again.

Clarke was brought back to the present when Octavia poked her in the side and asked if she wanted another brownie. She nodded because Raven was right when she said that Luna knew how to bake. In fact, when the movie was over, Raven praised her for finding a girlfriend who could cook. Both of the girls blushed.

Octavia looked at her phone to see what time it was and decided that she should be getting home to Lincoln. Clarke agreed, saying she was getting sleepy. Before leaving, all four girls exchanged hugs. When Clarke hugged Raven, she whispered, “She’s a cutie.” She said it just for Raven’s reaction and it did not disappoint – her cheeks burned bright red.

The girls agreed to have another get-together sometime and Clarke made Luna promise to bake something again. Octavia made fun of Clarke for raving over the food, but she didn’t care in the slightest.

On their way home, Clarke and Octavia gushed over how cute Raven and Luna were together. It turned out that Octavia had been watching the two during the movie, too, and they couldn’t get over how nervous the couple looked. Clarke remembered how nervous Raven was when she had to take speech classes in college, but that had nothing on how terrified she looked tonight. Clarke thought her nervousness made the night even more adorable.

The girls decided that they were both too tired to bother with driving to Clarke’s apartment, so Octavia told Clarke she could just stay the night with her and Lincoln. Clarke was thankful because she was exhausted. As soon as they got to the apartment, Clarke collapsed onto the couch and didn’t move again until the following morning.

_____________________________

Three weeks later, Clarke was working at the emergency room on a busy Friday night. There were too many patients coming in with not nearly enough doctors and nurses to take care of them. Whenever they thought there would be a lull between patients, there would be yet another rush of patients. Clarke’s feet were getting sore from constantly jumping from patient to patient and she still had two hours to go. They had received a wide range of cases – all the way from a rupturing appendix to a broken thumb to a heart attack – and Clarke just hoped that the patients during her final two hours had easier problems for her to fix.

Clarke had just discharged an older woman who had been dehydrated when her favorite nurse, Emori, came up to her to brief her on a new patient. She heard the last name, but it didn’t register. All she heard was that the patient had cut their arm during a fall. After she was told the patient’s vital signs, Clarke grabbed the patient’s file and made her way to room thirteen. 

She opened the door without looking up from the file and began to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Dr. Griffin and I’ll be taking care of you–”

Clarke stopped in her tracks when she finally looked up. Sitting on the hospital bed was a familiar face. The girl’s large green eyes and long brown hair were unmistakable. Her jaw dropped when she realized who her doctor was. Clarke looked down at her patient’s file to make sure she was in the right room. Her jaw decided to drop, too.

“Lexa Woods?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger... 
> 
> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke takes care of Lexa, but not without making things awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late update! Hopefully the next one won't take so long. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Note: Trigger warning for blood. It's nothing graphic at all, but proceed with caution if you're triggered by the mention of blood.

Chapter Five

Both girls stood in silence for several long seconds. Finally, Clarke noticed the little boy sitting next to Lexa in the hospital bed and decided to turn her attention to him, rather than the awkwardness of the situation. Lexa had an arm wrapped around the boy, protectively holding him to her side. Clarke cleared her throat and smiled at the boy, walking over to him and shaking his hand. “Hi there! What’s your name?” she asked.

The boy smiled back and looked down at his lap, nervous. “Aden. What’s yours?”

“You can call me Clarke,” she told him. “How do you know Lexa?”

She meant for it to sound conversational, trying to build rapport with the boy. She learned on her first day in her residency that kids need to feel like they can trust their doctor before getting down to business. With adults, she can just walk into the room and start asking questions about their illness or injury. Adults don’t need to be friends with their doctor to allow them to do their job. Some kids never warmed up to their doctor, especially in the emergency room with so many unfamiliar faces, but Clarke had a gut feeling that Aiden would be an easy patient.

“He’s my nephew,” Lexa answered. For some reason, Clarke had been holding her breath while waiting for a response. For a split second, she thought maybe the boy was Lexa’s son. She was oddly relieved when she learned their relation. Not that it would have mattered…

Clarke smiled again. “Well, Aden, I think you’re in good hands,” she said. She honestly didn’t know if she meant with Lexa or with the hospital. Instead of figuring that out, she glanced down at the patient file for a short moment before looking back up at the boy. He was finally looking more comfortable, so she took her chance. “I see that you hurt yourself while running. Would you mind if I take a look at your arm?”

Aden looked at Clarke with a quizzical expression. Suddenly Lexa spoke up. “Um, I’m actually the one with the hurt arm,” she said, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

The sound of her voice brought Clarke’s attention back to Lexa, all of a sudden remembering that Lexa’s name was on the file, not Aden’s. Both women looked embarrassed. Finally Clarke looked down at Lexa’s arm and saw that she was the one with the gash on her arm. Clarke pulled back the pieces of gauze that the nurse had put over the wound to stop the bleeding. Lexa audibly and physically winced; Clarke looked up just in time to see Lexa’s face go pale white. She looked a little unsteady and Clarke had to move fast. She caught Lexa just before she fell over backward. “Here, let’s lay you down before you pass out on us.” Lexa only nodded and went along with it. Clarke monitored her until the color in her face returned. “Not one for blood, I’m taking it,” she joked.

The woman shook her head, eyes still closed. “Not so much.”

The blonde tried to stifle a laugh, but failed miserably. Aden started laughing with her. “She gets hurt a lot,” the boy informed Clarke.

That had Clarke laughing even harder. “A little clumsy, are we?”

Lexa’s eyes flew open and she feigned hurt. “Hey, this isn’t fair! I’m the one bleeding and you two are laughing…”

Just as she referenced her arm, Lexa looked down at the wound – instantly she paled again. Clarke chastised her for even _thinking_ about sneaking another peek and then put Aden in charge of making sure his aunt didn’t look at her arm until Clarke was done nursing it. Aden started telling Lexa funny stories about some of the things his classmates did in his kindergarten class, which had both Lexa and Clarke laughing. Clarke continued to assess the wound and decided it would need stitches. She left the room to gather her materials, ordering Lexa to stay in bed and not look at her arm, and returned a few minutes later.

The stitches didn’t take long. The longest part was instructing Aden for his very important duty of making sure his aunt stayed still the whole time Clarke worked on her arm. He had a few questions and Clarke had to explain that it would only hurt if Lexa moved during the procedure. He took his job seriously and made sure Lexa didn’t move an inch. Periodically, he asked his aunt whether she was in pain, to which she would reply that she barely felt a thing. Lexa had opted out of having Clarke numb the area, so Clarke knew she was putting on a brave face for her nephew. Clarke couldn’t help but notice how soft and gentle – _motherly_ – Lexa was with Aden. Obviously they barely knew each other, but Clarke hadn’t taken Lexa for the motherly type, though she had no reasoning behind it. Maybe she wasn’t so great at reading people after all.

When the stitches were in place, Clarke leaned back and admired her work. Even though she had done the procedure countless times, she was still proud of herself. She quickly grabbed some supplies from the cabinet that she would need to cover the wound and sat back down. Lexa was staring at the ceiling and Aden watched Clarke work on his aunt. He seemed both curious and protective of Lexa. “The worst of it is over,” Clarke assured them, noticing that her fingers lingered on Lexa’s arm for a few seconds longer than necessary when she was finished.

“You’re a good doctor,” Aden said as Clarke taped a piece of gauze to Lexa’s arm. 

She broke out in a smile and may have even blushed a little. “Well, I wouldn’t be as good of a doctor if I didn’t have you here to help keep Lexa in check.”

“Yeah, because I’m so unruly,” Lexa interjected, looking between Aden and Clarke.

Clarke had to stifle a laugh and gave Lexa a pointed look. That time it was Lexa’s turn to blush. “Are you sure about that?” Clarke said jokingly. She had several flashbacks to practically dragging Lexa into her apartment because she had been too unruly with what Clarke suspected was a low alcohol tolerance. “At least now I know that you’re just as clumsy sober as you are wasted.”

Lexa’s eyes grew large and for a few moments Clarke wondered if she had crossed a line. What was she doing making such jokes with someone she barely knew, anyway? Lexa spoke again just as Clarke was about to start apologizing. “Unfortunately, I think you’re right,” she conceded.

They shared a brief moment of eye contact while grinning and then Aden spoke. “What does ‘wasted’ mean?”

That time Clarke couldn’t hold back her laughter, which only intensified when she saw the mortified look on Lexa’s face. At that exact moment in time, Clarke was so glad that there were no little kids among her family or her circle of friends. She didn’t have a good enough filter to watch her mouth, though she normally did a better job of it while at work. Clarke mouthed sorry and the got up to dispose of the remnants of her procedure. She continued to smile, noticing how flustered Lexa was while trying to figure out what to say to Aden that wouldn’t be followed up with even more awkward questions. Clarke decided to play nice and provide a distraction. “So, just make sure you keep those stitches clean. If they start to show any signs of infection, call your doctor immediately. Follow up with them regardless in about two weeks to make sure you’re healing up nicely,” she instructed. She then pointed at Aden and looked at him seriously. “Your job is to make sure that she doesn’t get hurt again.”

“No promises,” he said matter-of-factly. 

Again, Lexa feigned hurt. “You were the one chasing me!”

The two began to playfully argue, so Clarke took her chance to wave goodbye and slip out of the room. She told Emori that she could start discharging room thirteen and that she should print off information on watching for signs of infection. Clarke moved on to her next patient and as she was about to enter their room, she saw Lexa leaving hand-in-hand with Aden who stood by her side. For no particular reason, she found herself smiling as she watched them retreat.

What a day.

**********

The whole time Lexa laid in the hospital bed while she got her stitches, Lexa couldn’t stop kicking herself for somehow managing to end up in the emergency room where Clarke worked. She felt so bad for what Clarke had to do for her when she passed out drunk and was still utterly embarrassed. In fact, her embarrassment following that night was so intense that Lexa genuinely hoped that she would never have to face the woman again. Just to her luck, though, Lexa just had to live closest to the hospital where Clarke worked and end up getting taken care of by her. _Again._

Aden was a good distraction from her embarrassment, though she couldn’t completely block the thoughts out – however, it did keep her distracted from the pain of the stitches. Her nephew was probably her favorite person in the world and she had the opportunity to babysit him all weekend while her sister Anya was out of town for a business trip. Lexa had been watching him often since she was still unemployed, but she really didn’t mind. The two never grew tired of each other, which was what made it work so well, especially when they were together for several consecutive days without Anya in town. Lexa loved kids and it just so happened to be that her favorite kid was her nephew who she spent the majority of her time with. He was almost like a son to her.

As they left the hospital, Lexa decided that Aden deserved a treat for being so good, even though he had thoroughly embarrassed her when Clarke mentioned her clumsiness while drunk. Just thinking about any of that night made Lexa cringe. Still, it wasn’t Aden’s fault for not knowing what Clarke was talking about, so she told him that they were going to get ice cream for being so well behaved. He could barely contain his excitement as Lexa tried to buckle him into his booster seat.

Their favorite ice cream shop was quite busy and was filled with kids that looked to be around Aden’s age, most of them with nannies. Lexa knew Aden wasn’t a huge fan of groups of people and neither was she, so they picked a table in the back corner where there were fewer people. She let her nephew get whatever ice cream he wanted, which meant that he came back to the table with vanilla ice cream with just about every topping the shop had to offer; Lexa’s favorite was just plain chocolate ice cream with no toppings. They ate and talked about Lexa’s arm, which she was starting to notice throbbed more and more as time went by.

At some point after their conversation died down, a man and woman came into the shop, holding hands. Aden seemed to be particularly enthralled by them, which left Lexa perplexed. Even after the couple left with ice cream in hand, Aden still had a confused look on his face. Eventually curiosity got the best of her and Lexa had to figure out what was going on. “What’s on your mind, buddy?”

He looked down at the small portion of ice cream and then up at Lexa, somehow without looking directly at her. “Just thinking,” he said. For a five-year-old, the kid sure sounded like a grown up. 

“What are you thinking about?” she pressed. She could see the gears turning in his head, but he didn’t elaborate. She pushed again. “Is something wrong?”

Aden shook his head and finally made eye contact. At last he blurted, “How come I never see you with a boy?”

Lexa so did not expect the conversation to go this way. She figured it would happen eventually – if Anya didn’t bring it up with him first – but the middle of an ice cream shop wasn’t exactly where she wanted to have this talk. She realized that he must have seen the couple in the shop and then somehow realized that he hadn’t seen Lexa with someone like that before. She went for the truth, hoping it would be enough to appease his curious mind. “I don’t like boys,” she said.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

She was so ready for this to be over, but this question she could answer truthfully, too. “Nope, never.”

“Why?” he asked, looking even more confused. 

Lexa was just happy that the other kids in the shop were being loud enough to where nobody could hear the most humiliating conversation she had ever shared with her nephew. “Like I said, I don’t like boys.”

“But everyone likes someone, Lex.”

All she could do was sigh. She wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessarily true, but she didn’t feel like having that conversation on top of this one. At last, she decided to bite the bullet and tell him the truth. “Aden, I like girls.”

She nearly had to pick her nephew’s jaw up off of the floor; he even put his spoon down to process this new information. If Lexa wasn’t so nervous, she probably would have busted out in laughter. For a kid who rarely stops talking, he surely was speechless. After Aden absentmindedly took a bite of his melted ice cream, he opened and closed his mouth several times as if he had something to say but kept changing his mind. Lexa didn’t want to rush him, so she just sat back and watched Aden try to form a coherent sentence. Finally, he spoke again. “That’s a thing?” he asked.

This time Lexa did start laughing. Again, he sounded like a grown adult. “Yes, Aden, it’s a thing. Sometimes girls like girls and boys like boys and sometimes they even like both,” she explained.

“Huh” was all he said for a few minutes. Lexa could see that his brain was still trying to catch up, but struggling. He finally settled on a question. “Can I meet your girlfriend?” he asked.

“I don’t have a girlfriend right now, but I’ll let you know when I do. You will be the first to know, okay?”

Aden simply nodded and turned his attention back to his completely melted ice cream. He tried to drink what was left and ended up spilling it down the front of his shirt. Once Lexa helped clean him up, they left and got back into the car. Lexa was driving toward her apartment when she looked in the mirror and saw that Aden was starting to fall asleep in the backseat, probably because of the sweets. It was so quiet in the car that Lexa actually jumped when she suddenly heard Aden’s voice.

“Lex, does this mean that I can have a boyfriend if I see a boy that I like?” he asked.

Lexa started laughing again. “Yes, as long as the boy likes you too.”

He was quiet for a few more minutes, pondering the new developments. Lexa could only imagine how confusing it must have been for him, so she just let him be until he came up with more questions for her because she knew they would come eventually. Instead, though, he just said, “I’ll let you know when I have a girlfriend or boyfriend. You will be the first to know.”

The seriousness in his voice made Lexa’s heart melt. She hadn’t loved him anymore than she did right then. Her love for him made up for her aching arm. “Thank you, Aden. I’ll be ready to hear all about it whenever you’re ready to tell me.”

Aden just nodded again and then rested his head back on the seat, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Clarke and Lexa run into each other at the hospital. This time it's Aden who is sick.

A week later, Clarke was having a slow day at work. It was in the early afternoon on a boring Tuesday. In fact, it was so boring that Clarke found herself dozing off over her paperwork. She huffed a sigh and decided to run upstairs for some coffee. She took the stairs instead of the elevator, in hopes of the movement waking her up. A few familiar faces stopped to say hello. Of course, as she was pouring an unhealthy amount of sugar into her coffee, Clarke’s pager started beeping to alert her of an emergency. She then picked up her pace to get back downstairs, where Emori was waiting to fill her in on the incoming emergency. “What do we have?” she asked, getting into gear.

Emori grazed over the notes she had scribbled down. “Five year old was at the park and suddenly felt nauseous. Went home to nap and woke up with severe abdomen pain. Hasn’t been able to eat or drink without vomiting. Aunt called 911 when he spiked a fever. She said he’s been screaming in pain for about an hour,” she reported.

“How far out?”

She looked down at her watch. “About two minutes.”

Clarke yelled at all of the staff to get ready for the incoming squad as she listened to the EMS report vitals over the radio. As they made their way to the receiving area where they would get the patient, Clarke wracked her brain for possible diagnoses. She phoned radiology to warn them of a possible emergency scan and then waited for the arrival. A few moments later, they heard the ambulance sirens growing nearer. Clarke pumped up her staff as the ambulance became visible, suddenly wide awake. Her coffee was long forgotten on her desk.

The second the ambulance parked, the scene became a frenzy. Nurses swarmed the ambulance; Clarke met the EMS to discuss symptoms and vitals. As soon as the back of the ambulance was open, the staff was met with screaming and crying. The nurses pulled the gurney out and Clarke’s stomach dropped. The boy lying on the gurney was too familiar, as well as the woman accompanying him. Clarke rushed over to the woman, who was crying almost as much as the boy. The green eyes met Clarke’s and she started crying even harder. “Clarke, I don’t know what’s happening,” she sobbed.

The boy was Aden and, of course, Lexa was with him. Clarke wanted to console her, but she had a patient to take care of and to do that she needed information from Lexa. “Can you tell me what led to this?” she asked.

Clarke listened to the story as they quickly brought Aden inside, virtually running through the hallways. While Lexa spoke, Clarke was trying to assess Aden and have a nurse take another set of vitals. The light pressure she applied to his abdomen caused him to literally scream, so Clarke ordered the nurses to get him over to radiology for a scan of his stomach and abdomen before they even reached a room. In the background, Lexa was still sobbing and asking what was wrong with her nephew. She seemed to get even more distraught when she wasn’t receiving an answer, so Clarke stopped to answer her. “I’m suspecting appendicitis or some type of growth. We need to get a scan immediately before we call surgery,” she explained.

Lexa covered her face and cried harder. “Surgery?”

“I’m not positive yet, but he should not be in that pain. The scan will confirm the problem and then we’ll go from there.” 

The nurses disappeared with Aden, Lexa following close behind. Clarke stayed in the emergency department, as there was nothing she needed to do for Aden until they returned from radiology. She stayed close to her computer so she would see the results from the scan the second they became available. She had to sign some discharge papers for another one of her patients, along with sending a prescription over to a pharmacy, and, when she was done, the results had arrived. Confirming what she already highly expected, Aden’s appendix was rupturing. It certainly wasn’t the worst rupturing appendix she had ever seen, but she definitely understood why he was in so much pain. 

Shortly after Clarke looked over the results, Aden reappeared on the gurney and the nurses took him to a room where they transferred him to the hospital left. Before Clarke went in, she called surgery and told them to get ready for an emergency appendectomy. She then went into the room, where Emory was hooking Aden up to some machines to monitor his vitals. Aden and Lexa were still crying, but they had both somewhat calmed down. Lexa sat up straighter when Clarke entered the room and slid the door closed behind her, looking hopeful and on edge. “I already have the results,” she started.

“And?”

Clarke gave her a bit of a sad smile. “His appendix is rupturing, as I expected. I’ve already called surgery and they should be down soon to speak with you, and then anesthesia should be down to prep him. What questions do you have?”

“I… Will he be okay?” Lexa asked. “Can you give him anything for the pain?”

“He will be in great hands. Unfortunately, we can’t give him any medication before surgery. It hopefully won’t be too long before the surgery, so he won’t be in pain for much longer. He will likely be in some pain afterward, but they’ll be able to give him some pain medications for that.” She then turned to Aden, who had sweat pouring down his face from the pain. Clarke hated seeing her patients be in pain and it was even more agonizing when she took care of a sick or hurt child. She took his hand in hers and smiled. “You can pull through this, right? I know you’re strong enough.”

Aden tried to smile, but it turned out to be more of a grimace. Lexa moved over closer toward the bed, placing a hand on the boy’s slick forehead. “You are strong enough,” she whispered, choking back her tears. 

As much as Clarke wanted to stay there with them, she heard her pager go off. She wished both Aden and Lexa good luck before making her exit and, just as she was about to step out, she heard Lexa’s soft voice. “Clarke?” she said. The blonde turned back momentarily. “Thank you.”

Clarke smiled and nodded before making her way back to her desk to see what new cases had come in while she was with Aden. Nothing major had happened, though there were three more patients than before. She quickly got caught up on them and then got to work. Between patients, she caught a glimpse of Aden getting wheeled out of his room, headed to surgery. A nervous Lexa was following suit and Clarke could tell that she had been crying again. The brunette did look back for a short moment, catching Clarke’s eye. Clarke waved and she got a small smile in return. Even with her swollen eyes and runny nose from crying, Clarke noted that Lexa was undeniably beautiful. 

Emori brought Clarke’s attention back to her work, but not without laughing at the doctor. It wasn’t until she realized how widely she was smiling that she figured out why Emori was laughing: she’d been caught staring at her patient’s aunt. _How professional_ , she thought to herself sarcastically. 

The nurse continued to laugh, even after Clarke had walked away, her cheeks burning bright red.

**********

At the end of her shift, Clarke was completely exhausted, and yet she didn’t leave as soon as she clocked out. As she was logging out of her computer, she decided to look up Aden’s name in the hospital’s patient database to see what room he was in. She wanted to stop by and see how he was doing, ignoring the fact that she could have simply looked up his condition in the computer. Instead of doing it the easy way, she gathered her bags from the staff locker room and then headed up to the pediatrics floor. 

Several of the nurses waved when she reached the floor and one asked what she was doing migrating from the emergency room. “Special patient,” she answered, winking.

When she found Aden’s room, the door was slightly ajar. She peeked in and saw Aden dozing in his bed, looking even smaller than normal in the adult sized bed. When she opened the door, she noticed Lexa sitting in a chair next to the bed. She, too, was nodding off, but she jumped when she heard Clarke enter the room. “Sorry to wake you,” Clarke whispered, as not to disturb the sleepy boy.

“No, it’s okay,” Lexa said. “It’s just been a long day.”

Clarke smiled warmly. “I bet. How’s he doing?” 

“He’s a lot better. The surgery went well, but he was really sore when he woke up. They gave him some good medication, so he’s been in and out since they brought him up here. They are going to keep him for a few days to make sure everything is moving in the right direction,” she explained.

“I’m glad to hear he’s doing better.” As if on cue, Aden stirred just a tiny bit and opened his eyes for a few seconds. Lexa moved closer and rested a hand on his forehead, just as she had earlier in the day. 

She rubbed circles on his temple with her thumb. “Aden, you have a visitor,” Lexa whispered to him.

Clarke was going to say that she didn’t need to bother him, but Aden woke up a little bit more to look at Clarke. She took a few steps closer to him, smiling and waving. “Hey there, little guy,” she said. Though he tried to smile, he was just too out of it to do so. Although he was half asleep, Clarke had something to give him before she left. She reached into one of her bags and pulled out the candy bar and teddy bear that she had picked up from the gift shop when she had a few spare minutes. She handed Lexa the chocolate and set the stuffed animal next to Aden on the bed. “Here, now you have something soft to cuddle and something sweet to eat once your tummy feels better.”

She had no idea what little kids like when they’re sick, but she figured she couldn’t go wrong with getting him chocolate. Though he was barely awake, Aden smiled. Lexa gave her a grateful smile, too. “He would thank you if he was a little more conscious,” the brunette said. “Are you this nice to all of your patients?”

“Only my favorites,” she said, winking. That made Lexa laugh and suddenly Clarke was blushing.

Lexa stood up and said, “Really, thank you for everything. I’m sorry you had to see me like that earlier.” Clarke assured her that she had nothing to thank or apologize for, but she insisted. “You are really sweet. You’ve cleaned up two of my messes and taken care of Aden. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome,” Clarke conceded. She figured she should be heading out so they could both get some much needed sleep in, but she wanted to ask something first. “Would it be okay if I come by the next time I’m working to see how he’s doing?”

The brunette smiled. “Of course you can.”

Clarke was about to leave when Lexa stopped her, again like she had earlier. “Clarke? I think we really need to stop meeting each other this way.”

Just before exiting, Clarke said, “I agree.”

She gently closed the door, hoping she wouldn’t disturb Aden, as he’d already fallen back to sleep – this time with his arm curled around his new stuffed animal. Clarke smiled the whole way out to her car, attempting to blame her good mood on the fact that she didn’t have to work the next day. She blamed the extra bounce in her step on that, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa makes the first (and second) move.

Clarke had the following day off of work, which was spent catching up on sleep and cleaning her apartment. Her friends asked if she wanted to watch a movie at Raven’s, but she was honestly too exhausted to do anything. Plus, her apartment was so cluttered that it would probably be legally considered a fire hazard.

After her day of lounging, Clarke went back to work. It was slightly busier than normal, though she didn’t really mind because it made the day go by faster. By the time her lunch break rolled around, it was the middle of the afternoon. She normally ate with Emori, but she told her friend that she had a patient to visit. Naturally, Emori didn’t let her go without asking any questions. “What patient are you seeing?” she asked.

Clarke kept her cool, knowing all too well that Emori was on to her. “Aden, the appendectomy from two days ago.”

“I see,” the nurse said, narrowing her eyes. “And, out of all the patients you see on a daily basis, you’re especially interested in this one because…?”

She hoped she wasn’t blushing. “I’ve seen him in here before with his aunt,” she explained.

“Got it. So it has nothing to do with the aunt being a gorgeous, tall brunette? If I recall, that seems to be your type–”

Clarke quickly stood up from her desk and refused to make eye contact with her friend. She wouldn’t even face Emori’s general direction. Even though she had nothing to hide, Clarke was blushing like she was lying. She hated being put on the spot and Emori was using that to her advantage. “It’s not that! He’s just…a special patient,” she said, obviously flustered. She spun around and quickly made a break for the elevator.

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself!” Emori yelled after her.

As she jabbed the button for the elevator, she shouted back, “See you later!”

**********

Lexa was sitting cross-legged at the end of Aden’s bed, facing her nephew. He was eating applesauce and had a Checker’s board spread out between the two of them on the bed. Aden had previously been refusing to eat anything other than popsicles, so Lexa bribed him with board games – for every bite he took, he got to move a Checker piece. The motivation seemed to be working.

Suddenly there was a light tap on the door, which startled both Lexa and Aden. Lexa figured it was a nurse coming to check Aden’s vitals, but she was pleasantly surprised to see Clarke standing in the doorway. The blond seemed to perk up once she saw the two sitting on the bed. “Hey!” Lexa said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. 

“Hi!” she said back, then looking at the boy on the bed. “Aden, you look so much better than the last few times I saw you. How are you feeling?”

Though it took a few seconds for him to recognize Clarke’s face, Aden smiled and waved once it registered. “I’m doing much better. Aunty Lexa is making me eat applesauce.”

“The doctors say that you have to eat before you can go home,” Lexa said sternly. She moved her piece on the board between them and then looked at her nephew until he took a bite. He reluctantly took a spoonful, followed by moving one of his pieces.

Clarke stepped in and perched herself on the chair next to Aden’s bed. “Although I’m not your doctor anymore, I have to agree with Lexa on this one.”

Aden slumped his shoulders, crossed his arms, and said, “Aw, come on!”

Lexa and Clarke laughed at him. The two quickly finished their game of Checkers and then Aden asked Clarke if she would play a quick game with him. Lexa said, “Aden, she probably has work to do…”

She shook her head and smiled. “I’m on break for another twenty minutes. I think I can beat Aden by then,” she said, smiling mysteriously at the boy. He took that as a direct challenge.

Before starting, Lexa scooted over so Clarke could sit next to her on the bed and play the game with Aden. Lexa did her best not to stare at the blonde sitting next to her, but Clarke felt her steady gaze. She swept her hair over her shoulder with the hopes of masking the blush that was spreading across her cheeks. Aden remained completely oblivious, focused entirely on beating Clarke, and his attention to the game paid off. Without Clarke even going easy on him, Aden won fair and square. “I win! No more applesauce for me!” he exclaimed.

Again, the two women had to laugh at him. “I’m not sure that’s how it works,” Lexa said, shaking her head at his stubbornness.

“I think we can cut you some slack, just this once,” Clarke whispered to him, as if Lexa couldn’t hear.

The brunette’s eyes widened and she laughed. “Incredible,” she muttered. 

They laughed a bit longer and then Aden spoke up. “Clarke, do you know my mommy, too?”

They hadn’t exactly said that Clarke and Lexa had known each other prior to Lexa coming into the emergency room for her arm, but he apparently had figured that out on his own. Lexa hoped he wouldn’t ask how they met because she would have to come up with a lie, knowing that the truth wasn’t really G rated. She also didn’t want him to go back and tell Anya that she had gotten so drunk that a stranger had to practically carry her back to their place so she wouldn’t blackout outside of a bar, all because she didn’t get a job she wanted. _Classy_.

“No,” Lexa started. “She doesn’t know your mom.”

Aden cocked his head, thinking. “When will she be back, Lex?”

Lexa looked down at her watch. “She should be done with her meeting in an hour and then she’ll be up here again.”

Aden told Clarke a bit about his mom: how she worked a lot, so he got to spend a lot of time with Lexa; how he didn’t have any brothers or sisters; how he _really_ liked staying over at Lexa’s house even though she didn’t have as many toys at her apartment but she always let him have ice cream before bed. Clarke laughed at the last part because he said it so matter-of-factly. He sounded like a grown up stuck in a five-year-old’s body. 

A few minutes later, Clarke realized that she had to be getting back downstairs, though she wanted nothing more than to avoid facing Emori again. In the back of her mind, she was still slightly embarrassed. 

Noticing that the blonde was eyeing her watch, Lexa said, “Well, Aden, Clarke probably has to get back to her patients soon.”

“Lexa’s right,” she said regrettably. As she stood up, Clarke looked at Aden sternly. “Now, you have to listen to your doctors and Lexa so you can get out of here and get back to wreaking havoc on the world, okay?”

Aden nodded and then lit up with a smile. “I almost forgot! Thank you for the chocolate and bear. I named her after you.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Aden. You’re very welcome. I hope you keep getting better so you can get out of here soon.”

She turned to leave, but fingers brushed against her arm. When she turned, Lexa was standing an arm’s length away from her. Before she knew what was happening, Lexa pulled Clarke into an embrace. “Thanks again for everything,” she muttered. Clarke had been so caught off guard that she didn’t know what to say and she just stood there like a statue. Lexa took a few seconds to catch onto the awkwardness and then she pulled away. “Sorry, I’m a hugger.”

Clarke noticed the blush and smiled, before she took a step toward Lexa and then hugged her back. “No problem,” she said, recovering, and then winking once after she pulled back. 

Lexa didn’t dare move or even take a single breath until Clarke was nearly out of the room. She stood there, astonished: she had just made a fool of herself, only to get the warmest hug of her entire life in return. She stood there with her jaw hanging wide open. Aden’s voice was what brought her back down to earth.

“Lex, you’re blushing.”

She only caught his gaze for a fraction of a second before she turned and stared out the window, too red to face her nephew. Lexa hoped and prayed the Clarke was out of earshot so she didn’t hear Aden’s comment. With her luck, Clarke was probably standing right outside the door.

And she was.

**********

A week later, Clarke was the first to arrive at the bar for once, so she claimed a table near the back so they would be furthest away from the pulsing music from the live band. She enjoyed the music, but her friends always complained that it was too loud to enjoy. As she waited for her friends and their significant others to arrive, sat back in her seat with her eyes closed, allowing herself to relax for a few moments. She had picked up an extra shift at the request of one of her co-workers, which meant she had worked six days in a row. The fact that she had the next three days off was a life saver. She was so tired that she could have fallen asleep right there at the bar if it weren’t for the music.

Octavia was the one who scared Clarke upright as she dramatically slammed her purse down on the table. “Jesus Christ, O,” she mumbled. 

“My bad,” Octavia said. She had an evil grin on her face, showing no sign of remorse. Clarke simply rolled her eyes and turned her attention to greeting Lincoln, who looked nearly as exhausted as Clarke felt. It was obvious that Octavia had planned the evening out and both Clarke and Lincoln simply went along with it.

Just a few minutes later, Raven arrived with Luna, walking hand-in-hand as they searched for their friends. Clarke couldn’t ignore how cute the girls looked together, though she did feel a slight twinge of jealousy as she watched Luna politely pull out a chair for Raven to sit in. Raven noticed that Clarke was watching and started to blush, which only made the blonde laugh in response. Raven was such an introvert that interacting with her girlfriend whatsoever made her nervous, but Clarke thought it was cute. She made a mental note to tease her friend about it later if they got a few seconds alone.

“Before I forget,” Octavia said, “are you guys available to go look at flowers for the wedding with me on Sunday?”

Clarke thought about it for a few seconds. “As long as I can sleep in,” she decided.

Raven agreed. Octavia grinned excitedly and then pointed at Luna. “You’re invited, too,” she told the girl.

“I think I can be there,” Luna said, smiling. “Thank you for the invitation.”

Octavia nodded and smiled, and then turned her attention to Clarke. The blonde already knew what was coming before she said it; she was rolling her eyes before Octavia even spoke. “I would invite Clarke’s significant other, too, but unfortunately she doesn’t have one. Isn’t that right, Clarke?”

No matter how many times she explained it, Octavia wouldn’t let up. I wasn’t that Clarke was actively avoiding a relationship – she just wasn’t interested at the moment. Her life literally evolved around her job and what spare time she had was spent with her best friends, which left little to no room for anything else. She would make it work if someone came along, but it wasn’t like she had a long line of prospective partners lined up. Although she often felt alone, she didn’t deem relationships necessary. She wasn’t one to feel like she had to be in a relationship at all times, which Octavia didn’t seem to quite understand. Instead of wasting her time explaining yet again, Clarke stood from her seat and said, “I’m going to go get drinks. Anyone want anything?”

Everyone blurted out their drink of choice and Clarke turned on her heels, making her way toward the bar. She needed a breather, plus she thought alcohol might make her night a bit more bearable despite her exhaustion. Clarke ordered their drinks and then sat at the bar as she waited for the bartender to make the drinks. Sitting there, she put her head in her hands and tried to enjoy the live band that was playing. However, no matter hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore the headache settling in behind her eyes. No matter how much she wanted to go home and go to bed, Clarke knew she didn’t get to see her friends often and she needed to enjoy their time together. By the time the bartender set the drinks in front of her, she had convinced herself to put on a brave face and at least try to have fun. She threw some cash toward the bartender, grabbed the drinks, and then turned to make her way back to her friends.

On her way to their table, two fingers tapped on her shoulder. She nearly kept walking, thinking a drunk man was just attempting to prey on her, but she stopped and looked back anyway. She instantly started blushing. Standing in front of her was Lexa, smiling and slightly past tipsy. Leave it to the universe to have the two meet again and here of all places. “Hey, Lexa,” Clarke said – well, yelled, over the loud music.

“Hi,” she shouted back. She motioned to all of the drinks Clarke was holding. “Are you here with someone?”

“My friends. Are you?”

Something in the back of her mind was nervous to hear the answer, but it turned out that Clarke didn’t have much to worry about. “My sister and I are celebrating the temporary job I got today,” she yelled.

“Congrats!”

Lexa thanked her and then they shared an awkward few seconds of eye contact. For a brief moment, Clarke wished she wasn’t with her friends so she could sit and talk with Lexa. She was smart enough to know that if the universe continually put two people in the same place so many times, there had to be some kind of reasoning behind it. Lexa wanted to stay there, too, but Anya would be coming to look for her if she was gone for too much longer. “I should be getting back to my sister,” Lexa said, as if she was reading Clarke’s mind.

“Have a good night!”

Their gaze lingered a few seconds too long. It made Clarke flustered – not for the first time with Lexa involved, she noted – and she felt awkward. “I’ll see you around,” she said.

Clarke was the first to turn away, only because she thought she might faint if Lexa stared at her any longer. She didn’t realize that she was holding her breath until she was setting the armful of drinks down in front of her friends. Her mind was too busy to keep track of the conversation taking place around her. Raven was the first to notice – she nudged Clarke in the side with her elbow. She muttered an apology, but that didn’t do anything for her attention. Next it was Octavia who took notice. “Earth to Griffin,” she yelled, leaning across the table and waving a hand in front of Clarke’s face. “Where did you go?”

She blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to clear out the thoughts of the brunette so she could focus on her friends. “Sorry, I’m here.”

“What’s going on with you?” Octavia inquired. 

She was just about to make an excuse about being tired – unfortunately for her, she was completely awake after running into Lexa – but she was interrupted by a bartender. He stood there with a drink in his hand, looking between each person at the table. He finally settled his eyes on Clarke. “Um, I think this is for you. Someone named Lexie…Alex…something like that, said to give this to the pretty blonde at the table in the corner. It’s a daiquiri,” he explained, looking extremely awkward. He simply set the drink down in front of Clarke and then walked off.

Clarke looked absolutely incredulous. Her mouth hung open in shock, staring at the drink as if she were trying to figure out what exactly had just taken place in front of her. The second the bartender was gone, everyone at the table busted out in laughter, mostly laughing at the look on Clarke’s face. “Huh,” Octavia sighed. “Someone just bought Clarke Griffin a drink _and_ called her a cute blonde. Not bad.”

To say she was speechless was a gross understatement. Clarke didn’t say anything for a solid fifteen minutes and, when she did, it was only to say “fuck off” to her friends who were still enjoying her shock. Out of the corner of her eye, Raven saw Clarke smiling and absentmindedly playing with the small straw that was in her drink. 

Once she was able to think straight again, Clarke had to agree with Octavia: _Not bad_.

**********

When Clarke was at work three days later, her and Emori returned from their lunch break to find a cup of Starbuck’s coffee sitting on Clarke’s desk. She asked a few of the nurses if they knew where it came from, but nobody had any idea. They hadn’t even noticed that it wasn’t there prior to the doctor noticing it. At first Clarke was a bit unsettled, until she picked it up and saw that her name was written on the side. Still slightly confused, she took a sip and then noticed that there was a napkin under the cup with writing on it, too. Her eyes grew wider as she read the handwritten note. There was a phone number and then loopy writing. Clarke had to sit down to process what she read.

_Text me sometime? –Lexa_

Clarke didn’t have to look up to know that the nurses around her, including Emori, were exchanging knowing glances. Once she was brave enough to take her eyes off of the note, Emori had her mouth open as if she was about to say something. Clarke held up her hand before she got the chance. “Shut up,” she muttered.

The rest of her day was spent on cloud nine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this turned out to be even gayer than I expected.
> 
> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is hanging out with Aden when she gets a text from Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super sorry for taking forever with updating this. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it. :)
> 
> Note: Lexa's texts are in _italics_ and Clarke's texts are **bold**.

The next day, Lexa woke up on her sister’s couch, bright and early in the morning. She was so used to being at Anya’s place that she didn’t even wake up confused by her surroundings anymore. She had stayed up too late the night before with Aden, so she wasn’t enthused when she woke up before nine o’clock. However, she knew Aden would be up soon, which meant she would have been woken up before too long anyway. Instead of moping, Lexa made a pot of coffee and then quietly made her way into Aden’s room. Sure enough, he was starting to stir shortly after she opened his door to check on him.

When he first peeked out from under his blanket, Lexa set her mug on Aden’s bedside table and then sat down on the edge of his bed. He stirred more then and Lexa smiled down at him, reaching a hand out to ruffle his hair. “Good morning, my love. How are you feeling?” she said, just above a whisper.

Aden carefully rolled onto his side to face his aunt. Lexa noticed him wincing as he moved. “My tummy still hurts,” he said.

They were almost a week out from the surgery and he was already doing well, all things considered. He was doing well enough to finish recovering at home, which Anya and Lexa took as a good sign. The main warning sign for issues that they had to watch for was fevers and any discoloration around the tiny incision on his belly. The doctor said not to worry too much about pain because it would subside a little bit more every day, which proved to be true – Aden was asking for fewer doses of pain medications each day that passed, effectively weaning himself off of them all on his own. The doctor was sure to make sure that Aden knew he couldn’t do much physical activity until he was all healed up and, so far, he was doing a great job of not overdoing anything, even though Lexa knew that he missed being so active.

“Do you want anything for the pain?” she asked curiously, wondering if he felt any better than yesterday.

He looked up at the ceiling for a few moments, considering. Finally he said, “I think I need breakfast before I decide.”

Lexa had to laugh at his matter-of-fact tone. Even while in pain, he could make himself sound like a grown adult. He definitely inherited that from his mother, Lexa noted. Though Anya was slightly older than her, she remembered her sister having similar sayings when they were younger.

“I think we can manage that,” Lexa said, taking a sip of her coffee. “What sounds good?”

Again, he thought about it and then his eyes lit up. “ _Pancakes_!”

“That sounds perfect,” she agreed. “How about you get dressed for the day and I’ll start working on breakfast. Deal?”

They shook hands on the deal and Lexa quietly laughed as she left the room to give her nephew privacy. Once in the kitchen, she gathered the ingredients for their breakfast and got to work. She hadn’t made much progress by the time Aden appeared from his room, so Lexa asked if he wanted to help. She moved all of the ingredients to the dining room table and grabbed a mixing bowl. They dumped everything into the bowl – including chocolate chips, per Aden’s request – and Lexa sat back and watched as Aden stirred. “Am I doing this right?” he asked after a while, his arm visibly strained.

“You’re doing great, love. I think we’re about ready to put them on the stove.”

Aden watched from the kitchen table as Lexa methodically poured the mixture into the pan and then flip the pancakes every so often. Lexa stole a few quick glances in Aden’s direction, just to find that he was intently watching Lexa cook. He looked deep in thought, but Lexa didn’t question it until after they were finished eating and the leftovers were put away in the fridge. They settled in on the living room couch to watch cartoons, though Aden still seemed to be lost in his thoughts somewhere. Finally, she chose to ask. “What’s on your mind, kid?” she inquired.

“Just thinking,” he answered.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Well, I figured that. Do you want to talk about something that’s bothering you?”

He just shrugged, so Lexa let him think about it for a while and simply pulled him close. He rested his head against her. They mindlessly watched the cartoon in silence – that is, until he finally spoke up. “I miss my mom,” he quietly admitted.

Lexa frowned and leaned over to kiss Aden on the top of the head. “I know, kid. She’ll be home tonight and then she’s all yours for a few days,” she said.

He only nodded and Lexa knew her words didn’t ease her nephew much, if at all. The truth was that Aden saw more of Lexa than he did his own mom. Anya held a senior position at a local graphics design company, which required long hours and frequent business trips. Although Lexa loved spending nearly all of her time with Aden, she knew what it felt like to have absent parents and she was baffled by the fact that Anya was doing the same thing to her child that her parents did to them. Anya was Lexa’s primary caregiver from a young age after their mother died and their father became a full-time alcoholic. It stung to see Aden miss his mom so much, especially considering that his father hadn’t been in the picture since Anya showed him a positive pregnancy test. Lexa understood that being a single mom couldn’t be easy, but she also didn’t want to see Aden learn to resent his only parent as he got older for not playing an active role in his life. Lexa knew that feeling all too well.

They fell back into a comfortable silence as Aden lost himself in his cartoons. Lexa couldn’t get her mind off of her nephew’s sad demeanor and her sister. She decided to grab her phone and text Anya – the two had planned to take Aden to the zoo over the weekend, but she texted Anya to let her know that she was going to back out so they could spend some time alone. She also let her know how much Aden was missing her. She didn’t expect a response anytime soon, so she put her phone down, only to be startled by a notification moments later.

Somewhat to her surprise, it wasn’t from her sister. Instead, it was from an unknown number. Her stomach knotted with anxiety when she remembered yesterday’s antics. She wanted to throw her phone across the room instead of looking at the text, but she decided to refrain from doing so in favor of keeping her phone in one piece. Hesitantly, she tapped on the unread message.

**So, mystery coffee delivery person, I see that I’m supposed to text you…?**

Lexa groaned inward, wondering for the thousandth time if her idea had been too cheesy for the doctor. It had been an impulse – she had been out doing some errands with Aden and had no intention of getting coffee, or getting more than one coffee, or stopping by the hospital to drop off that damned second cup of coffee with her phone number sprawled on the cup. It was a true spur of the moment move and she was back in her car, driving home, when she realized what she had done. The drink at the bar was far less embarrassing than showing up at Clarke’s work to give the girl her number. The decision to bring in the coffee was made while completely sober; at the very least, the drink could have been explained by the amount of alcohol already in her system. This, though, was all Lexa.

After dropping off the coffee, Lexa considered all of the ways she could get herself out of the situation. She was not used to being the one to make the first move or, honestly, any move following the first one. No matter how creative she tried to get, she couldn’t figure a way out of it. It didn’t help that there was a part of her that really wanted to hear back from Clarke, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that the butterflies in her stomach were from anxiety. 

Now that she heard back, she had no idea what to say. She thought about it for ten minutes before typing.

_Well, how do I know this is the intended recipient of the coffee?_

A few minutes passed before her phone buzzed again.

**Hm…let’s see. After work, I went to the receptionist to see who dropped it off. Glenda said a pretty brunette with a young boy specifically asked for Clarke Griffin. Assuming Glenda’s hearing isn’t completely shot, I think she got it to the right person. Of course, unless there happens to be more than one Clarke Griffin working in the ER.**

Lexa was laughing before she got to the end of Clarke’s narration. Aden looked at her funny, to which she apologized. Just so she wouldn’t disturb him anymore, Lexa excused herself to get a second cup of coffee. As she stirred in the creamer with one hand, she typed with the other.

_Damn you, Glenda. Throwing me off my game._

**********

Clarke was still lying in bed when she decided to text Lexa, as it had been too late when she got home from work and didn’t want to risk waking her up. She was terrified to send that first text, but it wasn’t like she had anything to lose. So far, it had been paying off. Lexa cursing Clarke’s work’s receptionist had already made her day.

**Glenda’s got my back. ;) Thanks for the coffee, by the way. It was very much appreciated.**

After sending the text, she finally forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom so she could shower. It was her day off and she had nothing to do, considering all of her friends were either working or busy elsewhere. She decided she would do some housework and then break out her art supplies. While she had very limited free time, Clarke was really missing having time to herself where she could get lost in painting. It was the only place she was able to fully get out of her head and do something creative. Painting had been her outlet for as long as she could remember.

She was just about to undress and step into the shower when she heard her phone vibrate. 

_Anytime. I’m the girl to call when you’re stuck at work and in need of a caffeine fix. As you know, I’m only a block away._

Clarke laughed again and shook her head. I might have to take you up on that offer the next time I work a double.

With that, she quickly jumped into the shower. When she heard her phone chime again, Clarke wanted to reach for her phone, she had to remind herself of how much she had to pay the last time that she dropped her phone into water. Instead of risking it, she hurried up her shower and quickly dried off. Lexa had asked if she was texting on the job, to which Clarke replied that she had the day off. She discovered that Lexa was babysitting her nephew and that his health was still improving. They chatted for a while longer before Clarke got the text that she hoped was coming eventually.

_So, may I ask what you’re doing this weekend?_

She had to admit that Lexa was a bit more forward than she expected her to be, but she wasn’t so sure that she minded. She had taken Lexa for a quieter, more timid girl than she turned out to be. She didn’t mind that, either.

Clarke explained that she worked on Friday and planned to assist with wedding planning that night, and then she was free after work on Saturday and had Sunday off. When she asked what Lexa’s plans were, she didn’t get a direct response – instead, she got: _You are now busy on Saturday._

She didn’t question it. All she said was…

**It’s a date. :)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa has an argument with her sister and Clarke prepares for the upcoming date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things:
> 
> 1\. I haven't updated this in literally forever and I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am for that. I hope I can eventually make up for that.
> 
> 2\. The last chapter ended with Clarke and Lexa agreeing to go on a date. I had every intention of having this chapter contain the date, but things went in a different direction once I started writing. Though I considered starting over, I kind of like where this went. There's something about the Lexa/Anya relationship that really intrigues me. I promise the next chapter will have the date and nothing but the date.
> 
> 3\. The good news: I've got the start of the next chapter written and it should be up soon.
> 
> Enjoy!

Friday night, Anya returned home from work just as Lexa had finished tucking Aden into bed. Anya had promised Aden that they would spend the day together, but she got called into work early that morning. Aden was beyond upset when he woke up to find that his mom wasn’t home. Lexa tried to get his mood up throughout the day, to no avail. He was still grumpy when Lexa kissed him goodnight. The whole thing put Lexa in a bad mood, too.

“Hey sis,” Anya said, shrugging off her jacket and throwing it onto the couch. When her sister didn’t respond, Anya knew that she had it coming. Though she didn’t have the energy to deal with it, she knew full well that her sister wouldn’t acknowledge her existence. “What is it, Lex?”

Lexa sighed and walked into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. “Nothing, Anya.”

“It’s not nothing. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

The younger sister rolled her eyes and took a drink. “Maybe you should ask your son.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lexa shoved past her sister, who was attempting to block the doorway. Anya followed her into the living room. Lexa dramatically plopped down onto the couch, which had been her makeshift bed for far too long. “I don’t know, Anya. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’ve been promising Aden that you would finally spend some time with him and that he was disappointed that I was the one to wake him up this morning, like always. Or how bribing him with ice cream for lunch didn’t even make him smile. Or maybe how you’re starting to act pretty fucking similar to when dad checked out and left you as head of household. We may have gotten by without parents, but that doesn’t mean you should do the same thing to Aden. You and I both know that he deserves better than that. Maybe that’s what’s wrong.”

Anya knew this conversation would happen eventually, but she didn’t feel like having it now. Her exhaustion quickly turned into anger. “You know I don’t want it to be like this, Lexa, and it’s not fair of you to compare me to dad. I’m gone because I’m working, not because I’m an alcoholic.”

“At least we still saw dad.”

“That’s fucked up, Lex. You know I want to be here. It isn’t my fault that Nia is a bitch and makes me work ridiculous hours. If I’m not there, I lose my job and the firm sinks. Eventually I can cut back my hours, but for now I have to stick it out. Aden will understand.”

Lexa rubs her temples, already feeling a headache coming on. “He doesn’t understand. All he understands is that you say you’re going to be here and then you’re not. I know your work is important to you, but you’re teaching him that it’s all that matters. He already doesn’t have a dad around, so don’t make him lose his mom, too. We both know how shitty it is to be parentless. Even though we turned out fine and you act like it never got to you, I know we both hated not having parents around. Don’t make Aden learn how that feels.”

She planned on ending the conversation there, but when she finally made eye contact with Anya, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Lexa caved and patted the area next to her. When Anya sat next to her, she wrapped an arm around her sister. “I feel so shitty. I don’t know how to be a mom and keep a business going without failing miserably at one of them. I wish mom was here. I’m pretty sure she would be disappointed in me.”

Lexa pulled her tighter against her side. Anya never cried in front of anyone, so Lexa knew she struck a chord. Seeing her sister like that made her own eyes tear up. The truth was that Lexa barely remembered her mother; sure, she had quite a few pictures of her mom, but she had very few memories of her own with their mom. She didn’t remember much of her dad prior to his alcoholism, either. Though she never spoke of it, she felt like a major part of her childhood was stolen from her when their mom passed away. Lexa was sure Anya felt the same way, especially since she practically became Lexa’s parent figure once their father’s drinking began. In reality, neither of them had a childhood. It killed Anya to think that she was becoming just as distant as her dad did. There was no way she could live with herself if her son ended up hating her as much as she ended up hating her father. It had been over a decade since her father’s liver finally gave up and she still hated him just as much as she did when he was alive.

“I wish she were here, too, but I don’t think she would be disappointed. Your heart is in the right place. It would just be better if your heart was at home more often than at work,” Lexa explained.

Anya nodded, wiping her tears away with her tears. “I’m trying, I promise I am. Actually, Nia asked me to work tomorrow and I told her I couldn’t. I’m going to surprise Aden with a mini road trip to The Ark. He’s been hinting at going to the amusement park since his last birthday. I booked a hotel to stay up there tomorrow night.”

“He’s going to love that, An. I’m glad you’re going to spend some time together.”

Anya laughed and stood up from the couch. “I would invite you, but I think that would defeat the purpose of quality time with the kid.”

“Yes, it would,” she agreed. “Besides, I actually have plans tomorrow.”

It was the first Anya had heard of the plans, which wasn’t necessarily an accident on Lexa’s part. She knew her sister would make a big deal of it and that’s exactly why she chose not to mention it until now. When Lexa saw the smirk on Anya’s face, she already regretted mentioning the plans at all. “Yeah? What might those plans be?”

“Well…I’m going on a date.” Anya’s eyes grew wide and Lexa automatically wanted to hide. “Please don’t make a big deal out of it, Anya. I’ll literally beg you to not make a big deal about this.”

She had the evil look on her face that she would, in fact, be making a big deal out of it. “Oh, sis, you know that’s not possible,” she said. “Now, I’m hungry, so you’re coming with me to the kitchen and you’re going to tell me all about her.”

Lexa tried to protest, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Anya practically drug her sister behind her. “There’s nothing to tell, Anya.”

“How did she ask you out?” Anya asked. Her voice was muffled due to her rummaging through the refrigerator that had little to no actual food in it. She settled for toast after double checking that the bread wasn’t moldy. She finally saw why Lexa had been begging her to go grocery shopping for the last week.

Lexa glared at the back of her sister’s head. “As a matter of fact, I asked her out. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Shit, my sister actually made the first move. How did you do it?”

Anya turned around just in time to see Lexa roll her eyes. “First of all, don’t act so surprised that I asked her out.” Anya cocked an eyebrow at Lexa, who just rolled her eyes again. “Anyway, I bought her coffee, wrote my number on the cup and told her to text me, and then left it at the front desk at her work. Again, not that it’s any of your business.”

The toaster dinged and it made Lexa jump. Anya actually looked impressed with her sister’s tactics. “That’s actually kind of cute, Woods. I’m proud of you.”

The older sister made her way to the dining table, but ruffled Lexa’s hair on the way there. Lexa smacked her hand away, which only made Anya laugh. “I don’t understand why you call me that when we have the same last name.”

“Well, if tomorrow goes well, maybe you’ll have someone else’s last name before too long.”

“Shut up, Anya. We’re getting coffee. It’s not like we’re running off to Vegas to get hitched.”

Anya just shook her head and laughed, “You’re hilarious. Aren’t you going to give me more details about this date of yours?”

“No, I’m going home now. To _my_ apartment. Hopefully I’ll remember where it is since I spend the majority of my life here.”

Lexa was being broody and it only made Anya laugh harder. “I’m sure you’ll remember where it is when you take your mysterious date home with you.”

Before Lexa left the room to go search for her keys, she flipped her sister off. “That isn’t going to happen because it’s a date. A coffee date. And, even if it were to happen, you’re literally the last person I would discuss that with.”

“In any case, make sure you shower beforehand because you never know. I’m sure you’ve gotten a bit rusty–“

Suddenly Lexa threw the closest item at the back of Anya’s head, which just happened to be the TV remote. Luckily for Anya, Lexa had terrible aim. “Don’t even think about finishing that sentence.” Lexa was thankful that she was out of her sister’s view because her blushing would have made the conversation ten times worse. She was still searching for her keys when Anya appeared from the dining room. “I can’t find my fucking keys.”

“Watch it, potty mouth. Your keys are exactly where you put them every single time you walk through the door.” Anya watched as Lexa went over to the bowl right next to the door and instantly found her keys. She quickly grabbed her phone and tried to leave without facing Anya again, but she had no such luck. “Did you know that you blush when you get all flustered?”

“No, I don’t.” Lexa was getting irritated and her sister only stood there and laughed. Anya knew just how to embarrass her. “You suck.”

“Whatever you say, Lex.”

The younger sister reached for the door, but turned around at the last second. “Heterosexuals are awful. You know that, right?”

“You’re such a lesbian,” Anya muttered. She went over to Lexa and gave her a squeeze around the shoulders. “Seriously, though, have a good time and let me know how it goes, okay?”

Lexa was still brooding, but she nodded anyway. “Have fun with Aden tomorrow.”

Just as Lexa thought she was in the clear, Anya stopped her once more. “I was serious about showering, though. It’s been a while since you’ve been on a date, and–“

She wasn’t letting that conversation start again. Lexa shoved her sister back far enough so she could open the door. “Goodnight, Anya.”

As the door was closing, Anya laughed, “Goodnight, sis.”

**********

Toward the end of Clarke’s shift that Saturday night, time seemed to come to a standstill. The emergency room had been beyond busy but had thankfully slowed down as it got nearer to 7pm. Clarke was trying to keep herself busy with documentation, though it didn’t seem to work. Emori sat at the computer next to her and was likely putting in orders for one of the patients. As Clarke tried to focus, she was tapping a pen on her desk and she felt Emori glaring at her from a few feet away. Clarke gave her an apologetic look and set the pen down, only to start tapping her fingernails on the desk. 

Emori couldn’t take it anymore. “Clarke, what’s going on?”

Clarke tried to play it off by typing away at her keyboard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can feel your anxiety from here,” the girl stated. “What are you nervous for?”

The blond twirled her chair around and threw her head back dramatically. “I’m going on my first date tonight since…him. It’s ridiculous, but I’m terrified. I’m sure it’s going to go fine and yet I’m a nervous wreck,” she explained. “Plus, I’m going there straight from here, so I brought clothes to change into. When I say I brought clothes, I mean that I brought five outfits with because I couldn’t decide last night or this morning and it was going to make me late to work. Since when do I stress out over what to wear on a date?”

Emori sighed and rolled her chair over so she was sitting directly in front of Clarke. “First of all, you need to chill out. Second, where you’re going should determine what you’re wearing. Where are you guys going?”

“A coffee shop.”

“Okay, so you don’t need to wear anything extravagant, right?”

“Probably.”

Emori rolled back over to her computer. “There you go. No need to work yourself up into a panic. You’re going to be fine.”

“You’re right. Thank you,” Clarke said. She really wasn’t sure what about the date was making her so nervous. Even though she hadn’t gone on a date in forever, it wasn’t like it was her first ever date. She was hardly ever one to get nervous before a date. If anything, she was the kind of girl who was nervous after the date to see if the person was going to ever speak to her again. That was what she was accustomed to; not this.

Emori left Clarke at her computer to finish the last bits of paperwork before clocking out and changing clothes. Once she finished enough for the day, she logged off of the computer and walked back to the lockers. She grabbed the duffel bag that contained half of her closets’ contents. When she got to the bathroom, Clarke dumped all of the clothing on the floor and sighed. She pawed through the clothes, trying to keep Emori’s fashion advice in mind. She stripped out of her uniform and pulled on one of the three pairs of jeans that she’d packed, then stared at the rest of the clothes, unsure of what shirt to wear. She had to laugh at the irony of her situation – she was a doctor in an emergency room where she had to make life or death decisions for her patients on a daily basis, and yet picking out an outfit for her date was the hardest decision she’d made in the last month. Eventually she picked the shirt on top of the pile and ran with it.

On the way to her car, Clarke picked up the pace after seeing that she had fifteen minutes to get to the coffee shop. It was only a ten minute shop, but she felt like she was going to need another ten minutes just to calm herself down. 

“Clarke!” 

She jumped at the sound of her name and turned around to find Emori several yards behind her. “I have fifteen minutes. What’s up?” she shouted, taking the opportunity to sift through the mess of her purse to find her keys.

“I just wanted to wish you good luck,” she shouted. Once she was closer, Emori said, “Not that you need it.”

Clarke laughed. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Emori gave her the look that said she was about to get told off. “Listen, Clarke. I know it’s been a while for you. I know that you’re scared of getting hurt again, even if you won’t actually admit it. Either way, it’s going to be fine. Besides, Lexa is a cute girl and she would be silly to not like you.”

“Thank you,” Clarke responded, blushing and smiling. “I appreciate it, really.”

“You’re welcome. Now you need to hurry up and go before you’re late. Don’t keep the cute girl waiting.”

They exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways. Just as Clarke was about to get into the car, she realized something. “Emori, what a minute!” She was quite far away, but still within hearing distance. “How do you know it’s Lexa?”

“The coffee, dumbass.”

She just shook her head and got into the car. She was smiley for the rest of the day when Lexa dropped off the drink for her and she shouldn’t have been surprised that her co-worker caught on. Her dad did always say that she was an open book, after all.

Clarke smiled the whole drive over to the coffee shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	10. Chapter Ten

“Lexa!”

She shot up from her seat at the back of the café and went to the front counter to grab her drink. She smiled at the barista who handed her the drink and then made her way back to the table she had claimed for her and Clarke. The café was busy with mostly studying college students and Lexa had picked the table in the far back corner in hopes of it being the quietest place in the shop. When she checked her phone, there was a text from Clarke saying that she would be a few minutes late. There was also yet another annoying text from her sister who hadn’t left her alone since she left the older sister’s apartment the night before. Lexa started ignoring the messages seventeen texts ago. The ones she did look at were getting progressively more lewd and only made Lexa more nervous for the date. She was close to blocking her own sister’s number.

Shortly after she received Clarke’s text, Lexa put her phone on vibrate and then shoved it into her pocket. She was absentmindedly stirring her tea and looked up just as Clarke stepped through the door. Clarke’s eyes scanned the whole café until she spotted Lexa sitting in the corner. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then weaved through the mess of tables and people. 

Lexa was smiling when Clarke finally reached the table. The blond was immediately apologetic. “I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting. The traffic was ridiculous,” she said, out of breath. 

“No, it’s okay!”

“My friend even told me not to keep you waiting and here I am. I promise I’m usually on time. Well, I guess that’s not necessarily true, I just–” Clarke looked up and saw that Lexa was smiling widely. “And now I’m rambling. I think I’m a little nervous. I’m sorry.”

Lexa laughed and shook her head. “Seriously, it’s okay. I’m nervous, too.”

“Good. That’s good. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s nervous.” Lexa started laughing again and a blush spread across Clarke’s cheeks. “God, that sounded bad. You know what? I’m going to go get a coffee and by the time I get back, I’m going to be acting like a somewhat normal human being.”

Before Lexa could say anything, Clarke had run off to order her drink. However, by the time she reached the counter, she realized she had set her purse down at the table. She huffed and walked back to the table, completely mortified. She grabbed the wallet out of her purse and looked at Lexa, who was laughing. “Might need this,” Clarke muttered, motioning to her wallet and then walking away again.

Lexa just laughed and took a few sips of her tea. She watched as the line to the register shortened and Clarke was able to order. The blonde stayed near the front of the shop to wait for the barista to call her name. While she waited, Lexa stole a quick glance at her phone and groaned when she saw another five text messages from her sister. Instead of dealing with that, she just turned the phone off and shoved it back into her pocket. She would have to cuss out her sister later for being completely obnoxious.

A few minutes later, Clarke returned with the largest coffee that she could order without concerning the baristas about her health. She sat down across from Lexa. “So, now that I’m not acting like a nervous freak, let’s start over.” Clarke held her hand out and said, “Hi, I’m Clarke.”

Lexa shook her hand and smiled. “Hi, I’m Lexa.”

“I really am sorry about being late. It was a long day.”

“Seriously, it’s okay,” Lexa reassured her. “Did you have to stitch up any grown women because they can’t walk across a flat surface without tripping?”

Clarke laughed and remembered the second she read Lexa’s name that day at work. “No, not today. I still think it’s funny that I thought Aden was the one who was hurt.”

“Well, I doubt you see those sorts of injuries from adults often. Generally it’s kids who lack the coordination.”

The blonde had to agree with that. “You’re right, but I do see some odd injuries every so often. I never know what I’m walking into when I clock in.”

“What’s one of the weirdest cases you had?” Lexa asked. She was genuinely curious about Clarke’s job. She admired people who worked in the medical field, though there was no way that she could ever do a job like that herself. Considering the fact that the sight of her own blood made her woozy, the medical field clearly wasn’t for her.

“Well, I once treated a guy who accidentally chopped off his own finger while drinking.” That was during the Fourth of July weekend, where everyone loses the ability to stay sober for more than a few minutes. “He came in with blood pouring from his hand. When the nurse asked what had happened, his girlfriend handed the nurse a towel that had the guy’s finger in it.”

Clarke laughed when thinking about that patient and all of the other ridiculous patients from that day, but suddenly Lexa’s face paled and Clarke automatically regretted telling the girl his story. Clarke forgot about Lexa’s inability to hear or see anything related to blood or guts without practically fainting. 

“I’m so sorry,” Clarke started. “I wasn’t thinking–”

Lexa shook her head and stared at her tea as if it was keeping her steady. She blinked a few times and then looked up, smiling. “It’s okay. You’d think I would have grown out of my fear of blood by now.”

“Hey, it’s not for everyone. Speaking of, how’s the arm?”

She rolled up her sleeve and revealed what was now just a small scar. “Not too bad. Aden made sure that I took it easy and kept the bandage clean.”

“You two seem really close.”

Lexa nodded and took a sip of her drink. “Yeah, we spend a lot of time together. My sister works a lot at her firm. We don’t have any other family and Anya doesn’t trust daycares, so I watch him while he’s working. I love him to death and would do anything for my sister, but I do miss having a life of my own sometimes. Anya was shocked when I told her that I had plans tonight.”

“I imagine that has to get rough. She doesn’t let you get many breaks?”

“Not very often. We actually got into an argument last night over her never being around. We didn’t have much for parental figures growing up. It was just the two of us for most of our lives. I told her that she can’t let Aden grow up feeling like he doesn’t have a mom.” Lexa looked up then and saw Clarke staring at her, listening intently. It made her feel self-conscious. “Sorry, that took a depressing turn.”

“No need to apologize. I lost my dad when I was in high school. My mom kind of checked out after that, so I was on my own for a while. I mean, she was physically there, but mentally and emotionally…not so much.”

“I’m sorry,” Lexa muttered. “Do you have siblings?”

Clarke shook her head. “No, I’m the only child. In a way, I guess that was a good thing after my dad died. My mom fell into her depression and I through myself into my schoolwork so I wouldn’t have to think about it. I wouldn’t have gotten so far ahead in school if I had a sibling to look after.”

“I was wondering how you could possibly be a doctor and still look so young,” Lexa noted. Though she was terrible at guessing ages, she wouldn’t have taken Clarke to be much younger than herself.

The blonde laughed and sipped her coffee. “I had the grades, so I was able to enroll into college as a sophomore in high school. I took the college courses online and was close to finished with my Bachelor’s once I graduated from high school.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.”

“Losing a parent seems to be the best way to get ahead in school,” Clarke joked. She then realized how morbid she sounded and shuddered. “Sorry, that really did turn depressing.”

Lexa started laughing and shook her head. “Hey, it’s not a true first date until at least one person reveals their tragic backstory. I think this is actually a sign that we’re off to a good start.”

“Cheers to that and our dysfunctional childhoods,” Clarke said, holding up her drink for a toast. Lexa raised her tea and smiled. They both took a drink and then burst into laughter.

“I think we’re going to get along quite well,” Lexa said. The twinkle in Clarke’s eyes made her think that the blonde might not get too many opportunities to laugh like that. She silently vowed to make her laugh as often as possible.

“I would have to agree.”

**********

The longer they sat in the coffee shop and talked, the more interested in each other they came. Lexa listened to Clarke describe each of the girls in her friend group and all of the trouble they nearly got themselves into. She learned that Clarke loved how her friend Octavia brought out the extrovert in her when necessary, and how Raven was the one that Clarke could decompress with after a long day at work. Lexa noted that, if given the chance to meet Clarke’s friends, Raven would probably be the easiest for her to get along with. 

Clarke learned about Lexa’s relationship with her sister. They fought and sometimes hated each other, but they were always there for each other at the end of the day. It made her think about her relationship with her dad and how they were inseparable up until the day that he died. The two were closer than most teenagers and their parents. Though her friends may have thought that their relationship was strange for her age, she would have never traded it for the world. She understood how Lexa would put her life on hold for her sister, even if it got trifling at times, because that’s exactly what her father would have done for her. Lexa put her career on hold to help Anya when Aden was born and never regretted it once, though there were those times where she wished for a break.

Two hours had passed before either of the girls noticed. At one point, they even got refills on their drinks and sat back down. The conversation picked up right where it left off. Sometime after that, they noticed that the baristas looked like they were working on closing up the shop. There were only two other customers left at the shop and they were just as enthralled with each other as Lexa and Clarke were.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be those annoying customers who stay right up to the closing time,” Lexa said. Clarke agreed, so they got up and made their way out of the coffee shop. Once they stepped out into the parking lot, Lexa stopped. “I had a lot of fun tonight. I hope I didn’t scare you off with my traumatic childhood stories.”

Clarke just shook her head and laughed. “No, you didn’t scare me off at all. Is it okay if I text you tomorrow? I’d like to go out again if you’re free and not completely bored by me.”

“I would love that,” Lexa replied. Clarke smiled and went to turn away, but Lexa called out to her. She turned back around. Although there was very little light coming from the street lights, Lexa could see Clarke’s small smile growing. “I don’t think you’re boring at all. I actually happen to think you’re pretty great so far.”

Her voice was faint, but Lexa caught every word. “I think you are too, Lexa.”

They said goodnight and went their separate ways. Lexa decided to turn her phone back on once she got into her car, only to find nearly thirty texts all from her sister. Rather than being annoyed by Anya, she cleared all of the texts and waited to receive the one message she wanted more than anything.

That text from Clarke arrived just as Lexa was crawling into bed to go to sleep. They decided that their second date would be the following Saturday. Since Lexa decided on the location for this date, she left it up to Clarke to set up their next one. Clarke said she would decide and let her know in a day or two. Lexa hated not being in control, but the thought of spending another evening with Clarke made it bearable.

For the first time in years, Lexa fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has actually been less than a month since the last update! It's honestly taking me forever to write because I have so many future chapters planned out in my head that I can't focus on the chapter in front of me. Either way, this has little to no plot, but it has plenty of Aden and that's all that matters, right? ;)

On Monday, Clarke clocked in at work and was almost instantly bombarded by Emori. Clarke knew that she was going to be ambushed with questions, but she thought she would at least be able to get a cup of coffee before it started. She wasn’t so lucky.

As she poured creamer into the coffee, Clarke felt Emori rushing up behind her. She didn’t even need to turn around to know that her coworker was beaming. “Good morning, Emori.”

“Honestly, how do you do that?” was all that the nurse said. She sounded genuinely surprised.

“Well, based off of all the texts that you sent me this weekend, I just assumed that you would follow me around like a puppy until you get answers to all your questions,” Clarke said matter-of-factly.

Emori scowled. “If you had answered any of those texts, I wouldn’t have to follow you around to get some answers.”

Clarke just rolled her eyes and made her way to the locker so she could put her bag and coat away before her day officially started. As expected, Emori was a mere two feet behind the doctor the whole time. “I’m going to assume that you won’t leave me alone until you get answers, so let’s get this over with.” Clarke closed her locked and leaned against the wall. “Yes, the date went well. Yes, I did make a fool of myself at least three times. No, she didn’t run away screaming. And yes, we’re going on another date this weekend.”

Emori squealed and threw her arms around Clarke. “I’m so happy for you,” she cooed.

Not comfortable with the affection, Clarke tried to wiggle out of her coworker’s arms. Unfortunately for her, Emori’s small size did not match her strength. She was unable to escape the embrace. “I appreciate that, but I would like to be able to breathe,” she said.

“Sorry,” the girl said. She unwrapped herself from Clarke, but didn’t step away. Still, Clarke took the opportunity to slip past her. She practically ran away from Emori. That didn’t stop her from yelling after Clarke. “You have to tell me all about her over lunch, Griffin!”

“Not a chance!” she yelled over her shoulder. Thankfully for her sanity, a patient had just been triaged and was waiting for her in room one. She hoped the blush on her cheeks was fading by the time the charge nurse got her up to date on her first patient of the day.

**********

Later that night, Clarke drove to Octavia’s apartment to work on wedding planning. Raven was there before her, so Clarke was in charge of picking up dinner on the way there. When she arrived at Octavia’s place with her best friends’ usual orders from their favorite Chinese restaurant, the girls were elated to see Clarke. Well, they were more excited to see the food.

“God, we’re starving. Twenty more minutes and we would have starved to death,” Octavia said dramatically.

Clarke rolled her eyes. “At least you can still be a drama queen from your so-called deathbed.”

Raven chuckled from her perch on the couch. “To be fair, O has been slacking on her grocery shopping duties. Apparently once you get engaged, everything else gets thrown out the window. Weddings suck.”

Octavia glared at her from the kitchen, but Raven’s back was turned to her. “Don’t act like you don’t love helping with the planning. Besides, don’t let Luna hear you say that.”

“Neither of us want to get married,” Raven informed them. “Marriage is too commercial. I think the purpose is solely for straight people to feel better about their relationships.”

Clarke laughed. “I agree.”

Octavia and Clarke joined Raven in the living room. Octavia looked genuinely offended, but decided to let it go. They started eating and it dawned on Clarke that Octavia never specified what they were going to work on tonight. “Are you going to tell us why we’re here?”

The bride-to-be stopped chewing. Her plans for her and her friends had been especially cryptic. “Well…you know how I couldn’t decide whether I would just buy invitations or make them?” she asked in the most sheepish voice her friends had ever heard. 

The other two girls know exactly where this was headed and they didn’t like it one bit. Back in the earliest stages of the wedding planning, Octavia entertained the idea of designing her own wedding invitations by hand instead of going the easiest route by making them online and having them printed. They mostly prayed that she would go with the easiest route for their own sake – Octavia was the least creative of the group, so the other girls knew they would be the ones stuck with designing and making the invites. They were convinced that Octavia had decided against the homemade invitations, but now they weren’t so sure.

“O, please don’t finish that thought,” Raven said, basically reading Clarke’s mind.

Octavia gave them her infamous puppy eyes. “I know I said I made up my mind, but I did some searching online–”

Clarke and Raven groaned in sync. They both suddenly wished they were at home or, well, anywhere but here.

“Before you guys completely freak out, let me finish. I already have an idea of what I want them to look like, so all we have to do is make them. I even bought all the supplies,” Octavia said, as if that made the situation any better. She stands and grabs a large storage container that she had somehow managed to hide behind the couch. It was full of art supplies.

Both of the girls groaned. Clarke was the first one who spoke. “O, when you say you have this figured out, you better mean that you already have the invitations made and you just need our help putting them in envelopes and mailing them.”

Octavia refused to meet her friends’ glares. “Not exactly.”

The three girls had a long night ahead of themselves.

 

**********

Lexa was feeling restless when she decided to head over to her sister’s apartment, even though Anya and Aden hadn’t gotten back from their mini vacation. With as much time as she spent away from her own apartment, Lexa felt more at home at her sister’s.

Once she got to Anya’s place, she decided to pick up the apartment and do some light cleaning. Although she did her best to keep the place somewhat clean, having any kid around made it impossible to keep the space spotless. Lexa wasn’t a huge fan of cleaning, especially when she was cleaning someone else’s house, but she figured it would take some stress off of Anya and give her a little extra time with her son. 

Two hours passed and then Lexa was startled when she heard a key turning in the lock to the front door of the apartment. Anya and Aden both looked shocked to see her and Aden took off running, throwing his bags down to the ground in the process. Lexa crouched down just in time for her nephew to come barreling into her open arms. “Lexa! I missed you!” the boy gushed.

Lexa hugged him tightly against her chest. “Wow, what a coincidence! I missed you too, kid.”

Their weekend apart was probably the longest they had been separated in Aden’s whole life. They were almost always together, even when Anya wasn’t working. Although Lexa enjoyed having time to herself and having a life of her own for a few days, she felt like something was missing the whole time. 

“I want to hear all about your trip, but we should probably help your mom bring all the luggage inside.”

Anya stood in the doorway with her arms full and Aden’s discarded bags blocking her from coming inside. Aden ran over to grab his bags and Lexa took a few of the ones that Anya was holding. Once the older sister got inside, she threw the bags down and dramatically collapsed onto the couch. “You had that much fun?” Lexa questioned, chuckling to herself.

Aden dove onto the couch and laid across his mom’s stomach. Anya huffed, “This kid has a lot of energy.”

Lexa had to laugh, even though her sister didn’t find it funny. Lexa took it as payback for having to deal with Aden’s abundance of energy every waking moment that Anya was at work.

“Lex, we had so much fun! There were so many rides!” Aden started. “There was even a pool at our hotel.”

The three of them sat in the living room and went over all of the details of their weekend getaway. Aden brought up the ice cream that was sold at the amusement park and Anya admitted to giving into his begging more than once. She refused to say how many times they ate ice cream, but Aden threw his mom under the bus and told his aunt that they had ice cream for breakfast and lunch the first day they went to the park. Lexa mentioned that the sugar-filled meals likely had to do with Aden’s energy. 

Aden went on about the trip for another fifteen minutes until he announced that he was hungry. “There’s no way you can be hungry after how much money we spent on food this weekend,” Anya informed him, though he didn’t care.

Lexa took him into the kitchen to find something for lunch while Anya stayed put on the couch. Before Lexa finished making the peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Aden, she could hear snoring coming from the living room. “You must have really worn your mom out, kid,” Lexa noted.

He was too distracted by the food to respond to Lexa. They sat down at the kitchen table together and Aden shared stories between each bite. When Lexa stole a chip off of his plate, Aden said, “Keep your hands to yourself, you thief.”

When Lexa burst into laughter, Aden just sat and smiled. “You’re so your mother’s child,” Lexa muttered. Sometimes she had no idea where her nephew learned some of the things that came out of his mouth.

“Oh, I almost forgot! I’m mad at you.”

“What did I do?” Lexa asked, completely thrown off by the change in subject.

Instead of his playful look a few seconds ago, Aden looked offended and serious. He even set his half-eaten sandwich down before speaking. “Remember when we left the hospital after you hurt your arm and we got ice cream?”

“I do remember that.”

“You know how you said you like girls instead of boys and I asked if you had a girlfriend?”

Lexa was absolutely puzzled. “Yes, and I said I didn’t have a girlfriend but you would be the first to know if I do.”

“Yeah, well, mom said you have a girlfriend and you didn’t tell me first.”

If it weren’t for not wanting to teach her nephew how to become violent, Lexa would have walked into the living room where her sister was sleeping and slapped her. She silently prayed that a simple explanation would ease Aden’s mind enough for him to let it go. “Aden, your mom was joking. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“That’s not what my mom said. She said you went on a date with a pretty girl,” he said as if he were questioning her.

She wanted to slap her sister twice now. Of course she would bring Aden into her never-ending scheme to embarrass her. “First of all, your mom is ridiculous. Second of all, I did go on a date with a girl, but that doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend.”

“When will she be your girlfriend?”

Lexa should not have had to have this conversation with Aden. “I’m not sure, Aden. We have to know each other better first.”

“I guess,” he said, as if he wasn’t sure whether he believed her. “You have to pinky promise me that I’ll be the first to know when she’s your girlfriend.”

She could have explained that there’s no guarantee that Clarke being her girlfriend would happen, but she really just wanted the conversation to be over. She wasn’t sure her cheeks could turn any redder. Instead of dragging the embarrassment out, she held out a pinky. “I promise that you will be the first to know. I won’t even tell your mom until you know.”

They interlocked fingers and then, finally, Aden went back to eating his lunch. When he was done, Aden ran off into his room to play and Lexa said she would come play with him in a few minutes. Lexa quickly washed his plate and then went into the living room. She grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her sister, who was grinning and had clearly woken up just in time to hear the awkward conversation in the dining room.

“You suck.”

Lexa turned and went to join Aden in his room. Just as she shut the door, Anya yelled, “You know you love me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clexa date #2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't freak out or anything, but it's literally only been two days since the last update and this is definitely the longest chapter I've ever written. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite chapter, too. Besides, no chapter is too long when it involved so much Clexa feels. :)

That following week, Clarke spent every night after work at Octavia’s apartment, helping with making the wedding invitations. That first night when Octavia said she had the design figured out, she actually meant that she had no idea what she wanted and made her friends figure it out for her. They made so many trips to the nearest craft store, the employees knew each of the girls by name just in two days. 

They eventually asked Lincoln to help, despite his busy work schedule. Clarke argued that if she had to spend twelve hours on her feet at work and then come over to help, Lincoln could help too. Raven also begged Luna to come help, in hopes of getting through the invitations faster. Unfortunately, they weren’t productive once the whole group got together. That Thursday night, Octavia had the bright idea of supplying alcohol to drink while working. She really should have known better.

Clarke was basically sober and Luna chose not to drink so she could be the designated driver, but the rest of them were not even close to sober. By the time five invitations were screwed up because of their drunkenness, they decided to give up on the arts and crafts and just call it a night.

“Well, since we didn’t get shit done tonight and we’re busy tomorrow, we have to give it another try Saturday night,” Octavia announced.

Nobody could really argue, only because they were too drunk to care. It took a few moments for Clarke to remember that she already had plans with Lexa. “I have to work Saturday night,” she said.

“I thought you worked last weekend,” Octavia said, clearly puzzled. 

Clarke wishes her friend had drank a little bit more. “I agreed to switch a shift with Indra,” she lied quickly.

Octavia stared her down for a few seconds, but apparently chose to believe her. Clarke released a sigh of relief, thankful that nobody questioned her. Unlike her last relationship, she didn’t need her friends to know about Lexa until she knew it was going somewhere. It was easier that way.

Speaking of Lexa, Clarke felt her phone vibrate from her pocket and there was a text from the brunette. _Are we still on for Saturday?_

**As long as you’re up for the best pizza you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating, yes. :)**

Clarke turned her attention back to her friends, but had already lost track of what they were talking about. Raven was blushing, so there was a good chance that Octavia had said something gross about Raven and Luna. That was becoming more common lately.

The reply was almost instant. _I’m pretty sure I make the best pizza, but I guess I’m up to try the second best pizza around._

Clarke laughed and Octavia took notice. “Who are you talking to over there?”

“My mom,” she lied. It was the first thing that came to mind. 

Octavia stared her down. “I thought you two weren’t talking.”

“We made up.” That was partly true. They had gotten in a silly argument the week before and had just started talking again a day or two ago. “Why are you so nosy anyway?”

“Leave her alone, O,” Raven said from her perch across the room where she sat close to Luna. 

Octavia flipped both of them off and then went back to drunk flirting with Lincoln.

**You might just have to prove yourself on date #3.**

Shortly after she sent the text, the group decided to disband for the night. Clarke bid her goodbyes and then made her way home, looking forward to crawling into bed. She enjoyed being around her friends and the majority of the wedding planning was fun, but it made the day seem even longer when she had to work before meeting up with them. It made her look forward to going to bed even more than the days where she worked and went straight home.

When she got home, Clarke changed into clothes that were more comfortable and then collapsed into bed. Her eyes were drifting shut when she remembered getting a text on her ride home.

The single text read: _Challenge accepted._

**********

The next few days went slowly for both Clarke and Lexa. Like the first date, Lexa was the first to arrive, but Clarke was actually on time for this one. Lexa was sitting on a bench outside of the restaurant, mindlessly typing something on her phone. She looked slightly frustrated, but her demeanor changed once she saw Clarke approaching her. She quickly stood up and shoved her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. 

“Hey!” she said once Clarke was close enough to hear.

Clarke gave her a nervous wave. “Hi! How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Not bad,” she said, hoping Lexa wouldn’t notice the anxiety in her voice. She started getting antsy on the drive to the restaurant and it only got worse with the closer she got, but that had nothing to do with Lexa. In fact, knowing Lexa was waiting for her was what made the drive bearable. It was actually the restaurant itself that was causing her anxiety.

Lexa gave Clarke a quick side-hug and then said, “Shall we head in?”

Clarke nodded and then followed behind Lexa when she made the first move toward the entrance. When Lexa held the door for her, Clarke blushed and smiled. Her stomach did a flip that thankfully had nothing to do with the anxiety.

The pizza place was busy, which Clarke should have expected considering it was a Saturday night. She hadn’t been to that particular restaurant in quite a while and must have forgotten about the popularity of the place. There was a twenty minute wait and the entrance was packed with people, so the girls decided to wait outside on the same bench Lexa was sitting on when Clarke arrived. It was a beautiful evening with just enough wind to keep the humidity at bay.

Clarke was still feeling anxious as they sat down just a few inches apart, but it was getting more manageable. Regardless, Clarke was still fidgeting and Lexa noticed. “Are you alright?” she asked, the concern clear in her voice. 

“Yeah, sorry. I just haven’t been here in a while.” That made Lexa look even more puzzled and it made Clarke feel bad. She had to come clean. She tried to smile when she spoke, but it turned out to be more of a grimace. “My dad and I used to come here all the time. I actually haven’t been here since he died.”

Lexa’s concern was replaced with a look of sadness. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, just loud enough for Clarke to hear. She reached out and put her hand over Clarke’s.

Clarke’s hands stilled when Lexa touched her. She turned to look at her, even though she was worried that the tears in her eyes would spill over. She really didn’t want to cry on their second date. Lexa’s eyes were bright and caring; it made Clarke smile. “It’s okay. I figured I had to come back eventually. Besides, it would basically be a sin to deprive you of the best pizza around,” she said.

That made Lexa chuckle and Clarke couldn’t ignore the way her heart skipped a beat at the sound. “Like I said, you can’t say that until you’ve had my pizza. I think you’ll have a change of heart once you try it.”

The blonde appreciated Lexa’s playful side. It was hard to be sad for very long with her around. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” Clarke laughed. “Technically, though, you can’t say that yours is the best until you’ve tried this place.”

Lexa nudged Clarke’s side with her elbow and made the blonde laugh harder. “I doubt it will beat mine, but I promise I’ll go into it with an open mind,” she relented. 

The wait for a table must have moved faster than expected because Clarke was still laughing when the hostess poked her head out of the door and called Clarke’s name. The two stood and went inside, following the hostess to their table. As they weaved through the busy restaurant, Clarke tried to keep her eyes from wandering to the table where her and her dad always sat. It was in the corner on the complete opposite side from where her and Lexa were seated. They sat across from each other and Clarke landed on the side facing that exact corner. She tried not to look in that direction. She had to take baby steps.

Thankfully, Lexa pulled Clarke out of her thoughts without noticing that she had gotten lost. “What do you recommend from this place?” she asked as she scanned the menu.

“Everything is obviously amazing, but it depends on what you like. Do you have any food allergies?”

Lexa looked at her like she grew a second head. “Do you ask all of your dates that?”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Hey, it’s the doctor in me. I spent all week at the hospital and I’d rather not have to rush you there because I didn’t ask if you’re allergic to mushrooms,” she replied.

“Glad to know you’re looking out for my health,” Lexa joked. “Also, I might as well be allergic to mushrooms because those are disgusting.”

“I guess we’ll avoid mushrooms then,” Clarke laughed. The banter erased any anxiety she had left. “How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?”

Lexa stared for a moment, looking deep in thought. “The jury’s still out on that one,” she decided.

The blonde laughed again at the seriousness in her tone. “Well, how about you tell me what you _do_ like and we’ll go from there.”

“Pepperoni?”

Clarke sat there, waiting for more options. When none came, she shook her head. “Do I have a picky eater on my hands?”

Lexa just leaned back in her seat and laughed. “I’m used to only eating cheese pizza with Aden because it’s all he’ll eat. I guess I forgot about my own preferences.”

“Pepperoni it is then.”

Lexa’s eyes widened. “I mean, if there’s something you like better–”

“Lexa, it’s okay. Like I said, everything here is good.”

The brunette relaxed and the waitress stopped at the table to get their orders moments later. Clarke ordered and then they fell quiet. Clarke started thinking about her dad and how it wasn’t as hard as she expected to come back to the place that her and her dad spent the best times together. Her mom rarely joined them, so it really was their place. After he died, Clarke was convinced that she would never be able to return. She was proud of herself for finally facing it, especially since it was going so well. She wondered if there were other things she could face now, too.

“What are you thinking?” Lexa asked.

Clarke didn’t realize that she had been smiling. Instead of answering, she pointed to the table in the corner of the area. “That’s where my dad and I always sat when we came here. If there were ever people sitting there when we came, we would wait until they left. One time we waited over an hour for the table.”

There was a certain shine to Clarke’s eyes. Lexa detected some sadness, but there was happiness, too. Nostalgia. “You two were close,” Lexa noted.

“He was my best friend,” she said. “It’s getting easier, though.”

Lexa understood that. She wasn’t particularly heartbroken when her father passed away due to his alcoholism, but she was extremely angry. That anger filled her for years. It wasn’t until recently that she realized how holding onto that anger wasn’t doing her any good. Instead, she used it to fuel herself to be a great caregiver for Aden and hopefully kids of her own in the future. Now the anger was productive and not nearly as violent; she could think of her dad without wanting to break something, which was a huge improvement compared to a few years ago.

“Now my best friends annoy the hell out of me,” Clarke said.

Lexa had to laugh. “What happened?”

“Well, Octavia – the one who’s getting married – decided a few nights ago that we’re making the invitations by hand. She told us that she had the design all planned out, but all she had was some construction paper and a hundred copies of one of their engagement photos,” Clarke huffed. She was still bitter. “Actually, tonight helped me get out of tiring, drunken arts and crafts.”

Lexa erupted into laughter, despite Clarke’s serious tone. “The alcohol doesn’t make it more tolerable?” she asked.

“You’d think so, but they are useless once they get alcohol in their systems. Octavia starts making out with Lincoln, Lincoln doesn’t mind that side of drunk Octavia, Raven gets giggly and clingy, and Raven’s girlfriend Luna is usually the only sober one. Her and I are usually the only ones who are functional after a drink or two,” she explained. 

The brunette shook her head. “Having friends sounds like a lot of work.”

“I love them to death, but they really are a lot sometimes. Raven is the calmer one, so she’s not as bad. Octavia is…well, she’s Octavia. Some refer to her as an acquired taste.”

“Raven sounds like more my kind of friend,” Lexa admitted. 

Clarke agreed. “I think you’ll like her,” she said. By the time it left her mouth, she realized where she went wrong. She learned several relationships ago that you’re not supposed to talk in the future tense. The future tense meant she was thinking of a future with the other person when she had no idea if they were thinking the same thing. That was dangerous territory. “Of course, that’s if you want to meet my friends eventually.”

Lexa didn’t look alarmed by what Clarke deemed a slip-up. Lexa felt so comfortable around Clarke that it didn’t faze her. “I would like that,” she replied, much to Clarke’s surprise. “Eventually.”

She added the last bit for Clarke’s sake. Clarke looked down at the table and smiled. She got shy easily and it was painfully obvious every single time. She claimed that as one of her biggest downfalls. When she didn’t say anything else, Lexa spoke again. “What are you thinking?” she asked for the second time.

“I’m thinking that I’m afraid of scaring you off,” she responded. She wasn’t one for brutal honestly, but that just slipped out before she could think of something less risky to say. 

Lexa was quiet for a moment. “Can I let you in on a little secret?”

That definitely triggered the anxiety that Clarke thought was gone for the evening. Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded.

“I know we haven’t known each other for very long and we didn’t exactly meet in the most conventional way, but I don’t think you could scare me off.” The sincerity in Lexa’s voice washed away any of the fear she had moments ago. “You’re an intriguing person, Clarke Griffin.”

That was when the waitress arrived with their pizza. Clarke used the few seconds to try to calm her heart. She prayed that Lexa wouldn’t notice her blushing. 

Lexa would never tell her, but she most definitely saw the blush. It made her even more beautiful.

**********

As Lexa took the last bite, Clarke sat across from her with the biggest grin on her face. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” she said, still grinning. “Just waiting on your opinion.”

Lexa looked back at her seriously while trying not to give anything away. “Well,” she started. She was trying to be suspenseful and, if the look Clarke was giving her was any indication, she was doing a good job. “It’s pretty good.”

“ _Pretty good?_ ” she gasped. She threw a napkin at Lexa, which made the girl laugh. “It’s amazing and you know it.”

“I know,” Lexa admitted.

“See, I told you! It’s literally the best pizza ever.”

“You still have to try mine, but I will say that it’s very good pizza.” Clarke handed the waitress her debit card while Lexa was talking. “Thank you for tonight,” she said once the waitress walked away.

“Of course,” Clarke responded. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, but she hoped that was enough.

Once the waitress brought Clarke’s card back, she signed the receipt and they stood up to leave. They had been together for over an hour, but Lexa got a sudden burst of sadness when she realized that they would be going their separate ways once they got outside. She truly didn’t want the night to be over already. When they got outside, Lexa spoke, “I think there’s a park right around the corner from here. Do you want to go for a walk?”

Clarke knew the park well, as she had spent quite a bit of time there with her dad, too. She got the feeling that Lexa wasn’t quite ready to go home and she was thankful that she made the suggestion. She also wasn’t ready for the night to end, but she was too afraid to voice it in fear of sounding desperate or clingy. She just didn’t want to part ways with Lexa yet. For it only being their second date, Clarke wanted to spend more time with Lexa and to get to know her more. She hoped that Lexa felt the same way.

“That sounds great,” she murmured.

The park was less than two blocks away and was busy with people of all ages. Because it was so nice out and the sun was just starting to go down, everyone wanted to get out and enjoy the summer evening. Clarke and Lexa walked side by side to the park. They didn’t say much, mostly because they were taking in all of the surroundings. There were mostly families roaming about, but there were also just people here and there, walking around or sitting under a tree and reading a book. It was pretty warm earlier in the day and it was just now starting to cool off.

“I love just getting out of the house and walking around,” Clarke sighed. Between working, helping with wedding planning, and trying to get just a few hours of sleep at night, Clarke rarely had time like this just to relax and be in nature.

Lexa smiled, even though Clarke didn’t see it. “Me too. It’s nice being outside and not having to keep up with Aden.”

“I imagine being around people your age is nice once in a while,” Clarke said. They were just strolling through the park, with no real destination in mind. They were close enough to where Clarke could have stretched her hand out a few minutes to hold Lexa’s hand, but she wasn’t feeling that brave quite yet.

Lexa nodded in agreement. “It’s a nice change.” She was quiet for a few short seconds before adding, “Your company isn’t too bad either, I guess.”

“You’re so charming,” Clarke said, only half joking.

“I try.”

After walking for a while, they spotted a bench that wasn’t taken and they decided to sit down. The breeze picked up just enough to blow a few strands of Lexa’s curly hair to blow into her face and it took everything Clarke had to not reach up and tuck it behind her ear. Lexa didn’t seem to mind it. She looked lost in her thoughts.

Taking the line from Lexa, Clarke asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“It just feels so peaceful here,” she said, barely audible. Suddenly something dawned on her. “By the way, Aden was upset with me the other day because he thinks we’re dating.”

Clarke’s heart skipped a bit, but she still laughed. “What exactly led up to that happening?”

“Well, after I was a klutz and you had to give me stitches, we stopped to get ice cream,” she started to explain. “In the middle of the ice cream shop, he asked why he hadn’t even seen me with a guy before. I explained that I like girls and then he asked if I had a girlfriend. When I said no, he made me promise that I’ll go to him first whenever I have a girlfriend in the future.”

Clarke was nodding and still looked lost. Lexa kept her eyes on her the whole time she spoke. “So, last weekend I told my sister that I couldn’t watch Aden because I was going on a date. Because she’s the most annoying person in the world, she gave me a hard time about it and decided to tell Aden that he should ask me about my new girlfriend. He got mad at me a few days ago because Anya knew about my ‘girlfriend’ before he did.”

They both started laughing at how ridiculous the story was. “Oh my god, he sounds like the funniest kid. Is he still mad at you?”

“No, but only because I explained that I don’t have a girlfriend and then pinky promised him that I’ll tell him before Anya when I have a new girlfriend.” Lexa shook her head as she thought about it all. “He’s so funny sometimes.”

Clarke was toying with her necklace. “What did he say with your past girlfriends?”

“Um…” she started, trying to figure out exactly how to say it. “It’s been a while. He was a baby when I was last in a relationship.”

The blonde slowly nodded, suddenly feeling bad for bringing it up. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have asked that.”

“No, it’s alright. It was a long time ago. I’m glad to be past it.”

“I definitely understand that.”

Lexa chuckled. “I imagine Aden would have flipped his shit if he were old enough. He’s protective of me, even though he’s so young.”

“If it makes you feel any better, my ex decided to move across the country for a new job and didn’t tell me until the day before he left. Haven’t heard from him since.”

“I’m sorry,” Lexa said. “Mine decided to dump me and run off with someone three years younger than me.”

“God, people suck.”

“They really do.”

Clarke didn’t say anything for a few short seconds. “Looking back on it, I think everything happens for a reason, even if the reason sucks in the moment.”

“I agree,” Lexa said, looking back at Clarke again. “Sometimes it takes a while to figure out the reason.”

The blonde smiled and, not for the first time tonight, she felt her heart pounding in her chest. Every time Clarke tried to remind her that she shouldn’t rush into anything, she looks at Lexa and remembers that some rules are meant to be broken. 

They sat there for a few minutes. It was quiet, but the silence was comfortable. Although they were surrounded by people, it somehow felt like it was just the two of them sitting in that park. There’s another gust of wind and this time Clarke doesn’t stop herself from taking the loose strands of hair and tucking them behind her ear. Afterward, Clarke leans over and rests her head on Lexa’s shoulder. “Is this okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

They fell into another comfortable silence. It was growing darker, but they were so content sitting there that neither of them even considered moving. Even though they were lost in their own separate thoughts, they still existed in one another’s space and that was enough for them. 

“Remember what you said about not knowing each other for very long?” Clarke whispered.

Lexa chuckled just barely loud enough for Clarke to hear. “I do.”

“Well, you make me feel safe. I haven’t felt that in a long time.”

Clarke was thinking about how she probably wouldn’t have faced that restaurant under other circumstances. It might have been the way they initially met, but Clarke didn’t feel the usual awkwardness that she always felt when she first started seeing someone. It was a nice feeling, though it still scared Clarke. She wasn’t used to feeling that comfortable around someone new so quickly. 

“You make me feel safe, too.”

After sitting there for a couple more minutes, there was a clap of thunder off in the distance. Clarke didn’t know that it was supposed to storm and, although she enjoyed listening to the rain, she wasn’t as big of a fan of being in it, “I guess we should start heading back before all hell breaks loose out here,” Clarke said, finally sitting up straight again.

“That’s probably a good idea. I don’t want to melt once it starts raining,” Lexa joked.

They both stood and apparently Lexa was feeling far more brave than Clarke did on their way into the park. As they strolled back to their cars, Lexa reached out and intertwined her fingers with Clarke’s at her side. Clarke was looking away, but Lexa could see that she was smiling. Clarke gave Lexa’s hand a gentle squeeze.

It started sprinkling when they were half way to their cars and the rain picked up with every minute that passed. They tried picking up their speed to beat the rain, but that didn’t go as planned. It wasn’t long before it was nearing a downpour.

“You might actually melt!” Clarke yelled over the rain. They were practically running and Clarke only kept up because of the firm grip Lexa had on her hand.

By the time they reached the restaurant parking lot where they were parked, it really was a complete downpour. They ran to Clarke’s car and Lexa yelled, “Thank you again for tonight!”

“I’ll text you later to set up the next pizza date!” 

Lexa nodded and, before she could overthink it, she bent slightly and kissed Clarke’s cheek. Through the rain, she could still see Clarke’s blush. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!”

Lexa took off for her own car and Clarke had to fumble for her keys in her purse. It didn’t help that she was completely flustered from Lexa’s kiss on the cheek, but she blamed her inability to find her keys on the rain. Eventually she found them and was finally able to escape from the rain. 

She waited for the heat in her car to warm up, as she was freezing cold from getting drenched on her way to the car. Although she was chilled to the bone and dripping wet, Clarke laughed like a giddy child just thinking about her night with Lexa. Happiness was a new feeling for her.

It felt amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are probably a fuck ton of mistakes, but it's almost 1:30am and I just want to get this posted. Editing will come later. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter of fluff with absolutely no plot!

“What are you so smiley for?”

Lexa jumped at the sound of her sister’s voice. It wasn’t late, but Lexa was still startled by Anya sitting on the couch with a glass of whiskey in one hand and her phone in the other. The TV was turned down low with some talk show playing. Aden was nowhere in sight, so Lexa figured he must have already been in bed.

“You scared me,” Lexa sighed.

Anya looked her sister up and down. Lexa was still soaking wet from running back to her car with Clarke, but she was also still smiling widely. “I noticed,” Anya laughed. “Why do you look so happy?”

“Isn’t a girl allowed to be happy once in a while?” she said defensively. She peeled off her soaked jacket and tossed it on the couch. “Can I borrow some clothes? I didn’t plan ahead.”

Anya just nodded and watched her older sister disappear off into her bedroom. Anya had to leave for a business meeting early the next morning, so Lexa was staying the night and spending the majority of the week with Aden while she was gone. In her nervousness for the date, Lexa managed to forget to pack clothes for the next several days. She and Aden would just have to go to her apartment tomorrow. 

Once she was in dry clothes, Lexa grabbed a towel from the bathroom and dried off her hair. She tried to think of something – anything – to take up more time so she wouldn’t have to face her sister so soon. She knew that she was going to be asked a million questions, like always. All she wanted to do was curl up under a blanket and just be in her own happy world for a while.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

As soon as Lexa was in Anya’s sight, she opened her mouth to say something. From the devilish grin on her face, Lexa knew this conversation was going to be painful for her. She stopped her sister before she even said anything. “Before you start, I need a glass. Where’s the alcohol?”

Anya laughed, “Kitchen counter.” She downed the rest of what was in her glass and held it out to Lexa. “Fill me up?”

“Get it yourself,” she answered. Anya rolled her eyes, but got up anyway and followed her to the kitchen. 

“That was fucked up, you know.”

“You’re annoying enough when you’re sober. I won’t willingly contribute to making you even more annoying for this conversation I know you’re going to start.”

“For one, I’m not drunk. Second, yes, I’m going to make the conversation about your date as painful as possible. I’m glad you know me well enough to expect that to happen. Also, I haven’t been in a relationship in years and I’m determined to live vicariously through you,” Anya said.

Lexa just shook her head. She went to go back to the living room, but stopped. As she eyed the wine bottle on the counter, she made up her mind. “I’m going to need all of this,” she mumbled, bringing the whole bottle into the other room with her.

Anya plopped down on the couch, reclaiming her spot from before, and Lexa followed suit. She sat as far away from her sister as she possibly could. Anya definitely noticed. “Lex, come on. I it really that bad to have a simple conversation with your sister?”

“That’s debatable,” she said. Regardless, she turned to her sister and crossed her legs in front of her. The wine bottle sat in her lap, easily accessible.

“Classy,” Anya noted, looking at the bottle.

Lexa sighed. “I came prepared. Now, let’s get this started. I’m taking a drink for every question you ask and we both know you don’t want to deal with me when I’m drunk.”

Anya perked up at that. Lexa wasn’t much of a drinker, so everything went downhill quickly when she did. Both girls cringed just thinking of the nights where Anya convinced her sister to have a few drinks with her and ended up regretting shortly after. Anya definitely didn’t feel like dealing with that.

“Fair enough,” she relented. “What’s her name?”

“No” was Lexa’s answer and she took a large gulp. 

“Come on. You can’t refuse to answer my first question.” Lexa reached for her glass like she was going to take another drink. “Okay, okay! God, you’re annoying. What does she look like?”

“Blonde,” she answered. Anya looked utterly disappointed in her response. “I don’t know, Anya. What are you looking for here?”

“Eye color?”

“Blue.”

“Interesting.”

Lexa looked at her like she was confused. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Just trying to get a mental image going on here.” Anya thought for a few seconds. “Boobs?”

“What about them?” she asked defensively.

Anya grinned. “That was a trick question. You didn’t blush, so I know you haven’t seen them.”

Lexa wanted this to be over. “It was the second date, Anya.”

“Hey, you just never know.” Lexa took a longer drink than the first one and Anya laughed when her sister grimaced as she swallowed. “Has she kissed you?”

“Nope.”

“Have you kissed her?”

“On the cheek.”

Lexa watched her sister grow the biggest smile. It was a real smile, not one of the ones she wore when teasing Lexa. “Lex, that’s really gay.”

“Yeah, well, that tends to come with the territory,” she deadpanned. Anya burst into a fit of laughter and eventually Lexa was laughing right along with her. Although they got on each other’s nerves quite often, Lexa enjoyed the times where they could just laugh and be sisters. They didn’t exactly happen often, which Lexa blamed on basically being raised by her sister, but she appreciated them when they did happen. 

It took several minutes for Anya to regain her composure. “You’re ridiculous,” she simply stated.

“Says the one who’s questioning me about a girl I’ve been on two dates with,” Lexa said. Just for the sake of her sanity, she took a long drink from the bottle that was resting in her lap. A nice warmth spread through her chest when she swallowed. That drink went down far too easily, unlike her first few gulps – a sign that she needed to slow down. It was her first time drinking anything since the night she blacked out and woke up in Clarke’s apartment with the worst headache of her life.

Anya eyed her sister, noticing the way she was finally relaxing. She didn’t want to deal with her sister being drunk, but tipsy? Well, she could get more answers out of a tipsy Lexa. “What has she told you about herself?”

Lexa thought about it for a few seconds. “She has two best friends. One sounds annoying and the other is more laid back. She said I’ll like the laid back one better when – if – I meet her,” she started. “Her dad died when she was in high school. They were really close. Tonight she took me to their favorite restaurant and it was her first time going back there since he died. She said she feels safe with me.”

At some point, Lexa had taken another drink. Her eyes were a little brighter than normal and it was almost to the point where Anya wanted to take away the bottle, but she decided to wait a bit longer. “How old is she?”

“A year younger than me.”

“Where does she work?”

Lexa opened her mouth to answer and then thought better of it. Anya had spoken to Clarke after Aden’s appendectomy. Though she wasn’t sure that her sister would connect the dots, she wasn’t ready to find out just yet. She wanted to keep Clarke all to herself. “I can’t tell you that,” she answered.

“Why not?”

The younger sister shrugged. “Just can’t yet.”

“Okay,” she said skeptically. She watched as Lexa went to take another drink. As soon as the cap was back on, Anya reached forward and snatched the bottle from her sister’s hands. “That’s enough for you.”

“That was rude,” Lexa said, looking slightly offended.

Anya laughed at her sister. “It may be rude, but it’s getting late and I don’t need you being hungover while watching my kid tomorrow.”

“Fine,” she responded, as if she actually had a choice. 

As annoying and messy as she could get, drunk Lexa was a major source of enjoyment for Anya. However, she really did need for her sister to be functional in the morning. She also needed to get to bed soon and that wouldn’t happen if Lexa got anything past tipsy. She only had a few more answers to get out of her. “Has she had many girlfriends?” she questioned.

“I don’t know. She has only mentioned a shitty ex-boyfriend.”

Anya considered it for a moment, but let it go. “When are you seeing her again?”

“We haven’t decided,” she said. She was starting to get sleepy.

“Are you excited to see her?”

Lexa scoffed, “Of course. I wanted to text her the second I got to my car, but I didn’t want to be annoying.”

“So you like her then,” she concluded. It wasn’t exactly a question.  
Lexa finally looked up from her hands that she had been staring at since her sister so rudely stole her alcohol. “I don’t know her that well yet,” she said.

“That’s not a yes or no.”

“She’s…a very likeable person.”

Anya was satisfied with that answer for now because she knew the real answer, even if Lexa was too afraid to say it aloud. She knew her sister well enough. She was about ready to go to bed, so she stood up and grabbed her empty glass from the coffee table. 

“Does she pass your test, Anya?”

Anya was just about to go into the kitchen when she heard Lexa. “For now, yes,” she answered after thinking about it for a moment. Then she got more serious. “As long as she makes you happy, I’m happy.”

Lexa didn’t say anything. She just avoided eye contact. 

“Lex, I’m serious. Look at me.”

When Lexa wouldn’t look at her, Anya came back to the couch and sat directly in front of Lexa. The younger sister still wouldn’t look up from where she was back to staring at her hands. Anya put a hand on her sister’s chin and literally moved Lexa’s hands so she had to look in her eyes. “Lex, I’m being completely serious. You went through hell with Costia. You were miserable and it took you so long to come back from that. Sometimes I think there’s still a part of you that isn’t okay,” she said. There were tears in Lexa’s eyes. “Like I said, you went through hell. You were miserable. I never want to have to see you like that again and if there’s someone out there who can make you smile like you used to, I approve the hell out of her.”

Lexa had to wipe a tear or two away. If she were sober, she probably would have been embarrassed, but that wasn’t the case. “I love you” was all she could get out.

“I love you too,” she said.

Anya went to get up again. She tidied up a few things in the kitchen before she started turning most of the lights off in the living room. Lexa stretched out on the couch, already prepared to sleep. Just before Anya switched off the light, she stopped. “Lex?” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

The regular hint of sarcasm was back in Anya’s voice. “If she even thinks about hurting you, I’ll rip her to shreds.”

With that, Anya shut off the light and retreated to her bedroom. Lexa laid on the couch and laughed herself to sleep.

**********

Clarke couldn’t relax. She wanted to call her friends, but then she remembered they were under the impression that Clarke had worked all day, meaning she should be past the point of exhaustion and in her pajamas. Though she tried to lie down, she felt like she had slammed four cups of coffee and was completely unable to sit still. She was on a sort of high from her night with Lexa.

Speaking of Lexa, Clarke had considered giving her a call. She really just wanted to hear her voice again, but she didn’t want to seem clingy. That was the last impression she wanted to give off.

As she paced back and forth in her living room, she thought about calling her mom. It wasn’t quite too late yet, so she was probably still awake. After debating it for a few minutes, Clarke went into the kitchen to grab her phone and dialed her mom’s number. She answered after just two rings. “Clarke?”

“Hey mom,” she said. She went back to the living room and sat on the couch, her leg still bouncing up and down. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I’m still up reading,” she answered. Clarke pictured her mom sitting by the fireplace with a book in her lap and her reading glasses slowly inching down her nose. Reading before bed was part of her nightly routine. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted someone to talk to.”

Clarke was pretty sure she heard a sigh of relief from the other end of the phone. “Well, I’m glad you called. I miss hearing your voice, you know. Is there anything in particular that you wanted to talk about?”

She wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. Sure, she wanted more than anything to tell someone about Lexa. She normally didn’t have a hard time keeping secrets. However, she was too keyed up to keep it all to herself. If there was anyone who could keep something to herself, it was Abby Griffin.

“Um, yeah. There is actually.”

There was a pause. Why was she so scared to say it out loud?

“You have to promise that you won’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I promise, Clarke.”

The call went silent again. Clarke was thankful for her mother’s never-ending patience. 

“I kind of went on a date tonight,” she finally said. “Actually, it was our second date.”

This time Abby was quiet. The few seconds of silence made Clarke nervous. When her mom spoke, she could hear the smile in her voice. “Honey, that’s great news. How was the date?”

“It was pretty amazing. Her name is Lexa.”

“Lexa,” her mom repeated. “That’s a beautiful name. What did you two do this evening?”

Clarke bit her lip, unsure of how Abby would react. They didn’t talk about her dad often because it was a sensitive subject for both of them. “I took her to that pizza place that dad and I always went to. You remember the place?”

“Of course,” she murmured.

“Yeah, that’s where we went. After dinner we walked through the little park that’s next to the restaurant. We sat for a while and then it started raining, so we ran back to our cars. I had a great time and I think she did too.”

“I’m so glad to hear that, Clarke. You deserve someone like that in your life.”

They chattered about Lexa for a few minutes, and then Clarke asked her mom how she was doing. “Well…there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you, actually.”

Clarke couldn’t help the feeling of anxiety that immediately took shelter in her stomach. She had a bad habit of jumping to the worst possible conclusion at the drop of a hat.

“What is it?” she asked cautiously.

Abby chuckled softly. “It’s nothing bad, Clarke,” she assured her daughter. “I was just waiting for the right opportunity to tell you. I’ve been on a few dates myself recently.”

Clarke’s eyes immediately grew wide. “Really?” The excitement in her voice was undeniable.

“Yeah. His name is Marcus. Marcus Kane.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. “Mom, I’m so happy for you. When can I meet him?”

Abby was taken aback. She had been anticipating a reaction from her daughter, but she certainly wasn’t expecting her to be so eager. “Maybe we can get together sometime soon so you can meet him and I can meet this Lexa person of yours.”

After talking about setting up the meeting and deciding to wait a little bit longer, the two decided that it was getting late and hung up. Clarke sat on her couch and stared at her phone with the biggest grin on her face. 

She never thought that she would be okay with her mom being with anyone other than her father. After his death, Clarke had recurring nightmares where she would see her mom leaving her dad’s funeral with another man. To make it even worse, there was a different man on her arm with each dream as she exited the funeral home. One of her biggest fears was that her mom would forget her dad and act like he was never a part of their lives. Now that Abby was seeing someone, it gave Clarke a new sense of hope – hope that maybe she’s also meant to move on from the horrors of her past.

Losing her dad was the hardest task Clarke ever faced. It was brutal and it was miserable. There were days where she wanted nothing more than for her dad to be by her side again, just to let her know that she was okay. To let her know that he was proud of her. 

As she sat there, she realized that she’s meant to do more with her life than grieve. For the longest time, Clarke thought she would spend her whole life facing loss after loss: she lost her dad, she lost Finn, and somewhere along the line she lost herself. She felt like she was slowly regaining herself. She finally realized that her dad would want her to be happy. He would want her to love again.

There was a weight lifted off of her chest that night. She never noticed the weight until it was no longer there.

Maybe that’s what moving on feels like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Like the last chapter, I'll do editing later. I want to get this up since it took so long to write. It's another long one and it's pretty gay...which will hopefully make up for the cliffhanger. ;)

Clarke didn’t see the missed phone call until she was clocking out from work. She gathered her things from her locker and listened to the message as she walked to the bathroom to change into regular clothes. It was from Lexa. “Hey, Clarke. It’s Lexa…obviously. Anyway, I’m behind schedule and I’m just now getting to the grocery store. I’m going to shop as fast as I can, but I have no food at my apartment so it might take a while. I lost track of time earlier and…sorry, I’m rambling. I’m just trying to say that you might beat me back to my apartment and I’ll get there as soon as possible. I’ll see you later. Bye.”

Clarke smiled as she listened to the message. Lexa sounded nervous, which only made Clarke smile more. She really couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that someone was nervous to see her. She wasn’t sure if that had ever happened before.

As she made the short drive to Lexa’s apartment, Clarke realized that she didn’t feel all that anxious over this date. For once, she was more excited than anything. She had a feeling it was related to the phone call she had with her mom the previous week. 

There was one last parking spot open right across the street from Lexa’s apartment building and Clarke was quick to take it. She was crossing the street and about to call Lexa when she spotted her car just a few spots down on the block. She hurried over when she saw Lexa trying to get all of the grocery bags at once and failing miserably.

“Would you like some help with that?”

Lexa jumped at the question, but she was smiling when she turned around to see Clarke standing a few feet away. She forgot what she was doing the second she saw the blonde standing there. “Hi,” was all Lexa said.

“Hey,” Clarke laughed. “Can I help carry something?”

She shook her head a few times, as if she were trying to physically pull herself out of her thoughts. “Yeah, sure, that would be nice.”

Lexa started handing her grocery bags and, by the time they had everything out of the car, their arms were full. Clarke didn’t realize how serious Lexa was when she said that she had no food. She wanted to ask how long it had been since Lexa went grocery shopping, but she didn’t want to embarrass the girl who was already beyond flustered.

“I live on the third floor,” Lexa notified Clarke when they got inside the apartment building. “And the elevator has been broke for six months.”

Clarke chuckled as she followed Lexa up the first flight of stairs. As they climbed, Clarke thought about the night she practically drug Lexa into her apartment from the car and she was suddenly thankful that she lived on the first floor. Considering how long ago Clarke gave up on her workout routine, there was no way she would have been able to drag Lexa up even one flight of stairs. She thought about mentioning that to Lexa, but, again, she didn’t want to embarrass her.

By the time they reached the third floor, the groceries felt twice as heavy as they did when they were outside. Lexa struggled with getting her door unlocked with her hands full of grocery bags. Eventually she got the door unlocked and held it open for Clarke.

Clarke wasn’t all that surprised when she discovered that Lexa’s apartment was fairly bare. Her small living room only had a television on a stand and a couch. She sort of felt bad for assuming that the apartment would lack personality, but she was also shocked that she still had an apartment even though she spent most of her time at her sister’s place.

“The kitchen is this way,” Lexa said. Clarke followed her into the kitchen/dining room area where they put all the groceries. “Thanks for helping with all of this.”

“Yeah, no problem. Do you want help putting stuff away?” 

Lexa looked at all of the bags in front of them and sighed. “Honestly, I kind of overbought. I didn’t think about asking what kind of pizza you wanted, so I pretty much got everything. I also didn’t know if you like sweets or what kinds of sweets you like, but I thought I might as well get a bunch of different things and then you can decide what we make. That is, if you even–”

“Hey,” Clarke started as she grabbed Lexa’s hands, which she was previously wringing. “I’m sure you did fine with shopping. Besides, I think options are always good, right?”

Lexa nodded and visually relaxed. “Right.”

Lexa started sorting through the bags, pulling out the ingredients that she knew they would need. After that, she laid everything else out on her dining room table so they could sift through their options. They had plenty to pick from and that realization was embarrassing for Lexa. She could have just asked Clarke what she wanted, but instead she bought half of the local grocery store. 

“So, we have basically every pizza topping under the sun,” Lexa observed. “What do you like?”

Clarke surveyed the options. “Well, like I mentioned at the restaurant, I like just about everything,” she said. Then she saw the mushrooms. She picked them up and looked at Lexa. “Wait, I thought you said you hated these?”

“I figured I’d take one for the team if you really wanted them,” she shrugged. She looked up from the mini pizza shop that was on her table to see Clarke smiling.

“That’s actually really sweet.”

Lexa shook her head and laughed. “What can I say? I’m a real charmer.”

“I’ve noticed,” Clarke said. She made brief eye contact before turning back to the pizza ingredients. “Well, since you’re so sweet, I won’t make you eat mushrooms. I’m okay with anything.”

“How about we go with a little bit of everything? Except the pineapple because that might not mesh well with everything else.”

Clarke surveyed their options again and nodded. “Let’s do it.”

**********

When Clarke mentioned that she’s not a good cook, Lexa decided that she could trust Clarke with the responsibility of chopping up vegetables for their pizza. Clarke was telling Lexa about the time where she almost started a fire at her friend Octavia’s apartment while attempting to cook spaghetti. Because of that, Lexa thought that preparing the vegetables would be safe enough for Clarke. 

Unfortunately, she was wrong. Clarke got a little too cocky with her olive-chopping skills. Suddenly, there was a slip of the knife and a searing pain across her index finger. She jumped and dropped the knife loudly on the counter. “Shit!”

Lexa turned around from her place in front of the stove. “What happened? Are you okay?” she asked, trying not to look at the blood coming from Clarke’s finger.

(Clarke would never admit that she got distracted by watching Lexa. That piece of information would go with her to her grave.)

“I think my hand just slipped,” she lied. “Do you have any bandaids?”

Lexa was failing miserably at not looking at the blood. She must have turned a paler shade of white. All of a sudden she felt the room around her start to tilt.

“Hey, Lexa, look at me. Please don’t pass out.” Clarke was trying to get her attention back, but it wasn’t working out too well. She reached out with the hand that wasn’t bleeding and shook Lexa by the shoulder. “Lexa. Focus here. Where are your bandaids?”

The brunette tried to steady herself and focus on what Clarke was saying. She had to ask two more times before it registered. “Um, I was supposed to get some a while ago, but I don’t think I ever did,” she rambled.

“Alright, so…” Clarke looked around the room, trying to find something useful. “Paper towels it is.”

She grabbed a punch of paper towels and wrapped them around her finger several times. There wasn’t a ton of blood, but she had to contain the mess before she had Lexa passed out on the kitchen floor. She applied pressure and hoped the throbbing wasn’t going to last long.

“Are you okay over there?” she asked. Lexa looked a little steadier on her feet, but she was still too pale for comfort. 

“I…yeah, sorry. I should really be over my aversion to blood by now,” she mumbled. Clarke noticed the blush when Lexa turned her attention back to what she was cooking on the stove. “How’s the finger?”

“I think it’s going to survive.”

“Good. Your job might be a bit harder if you only have nine fingers,” Lexa joked.

Clarke had to laugh. “That’s true. Unfortunately, I think you might have to finish cutting up the veggies since I can’t manage that without hurting myself.”

“At least I’m not the only grown adult who gets hurt by everything.”

“I’m glad I’m not alone,” she joked back.

Lexa finished with the hamburger and then shut the stove off while Clarke washed the offending knife. When Lexa went to finish cutting up more vegetables, Clarke hopped up onto the counter and watched Lexa go to work. Clarke was somewhat amazed with how quickly she could work without chopping off any of her fingers.

“So, how is the wedding planning coming along?” Lexa asked.

Clarke rolled her eyes. “We finally finished the invitations a couple days ago. We thought Octavia would chill out since that’s out of the way, but she has managed to find something else to stress over on a daily basis. I’m ready for it to be over.”

“Is she always high maintenance?”

“No, not like this anyway. Raven and I are both exhausted by this version of her. She never stops. I bet if I look at my phone right now, I would have at least ten texts from her.” To demonstrate, she grabbed her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. Sure enough, there were fifteen texts. “It never stops.”

“Weddings seem like a lot of work.”

Clarke nodded. “They are.”

Lexa looked up and saw Clarke blushing as she typed something on her phone. She couldn’t tell whether the look was good or bad. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. My mom has recently discovered how to text,” she explained.

“How is she doing?” Lexa knew very little about Clarke’s mom. She had a feeling that the two didn’t get along too well. She was curious, but she didn’t want to push it. She didn’t want to cross a line if she wasn’t even sure where the line was.

Clarke’s face lit up and Lexa took that as a good sign. “She’s doing really well, actually. We talked for a while the other night and she told me that she’s seeing someone.”

“Yeah?” Lexa looked up from the olives that she was chopping in have to see if she could figure out if the news was good. Clarke’s eyes were lit up, so she thought it was good. “How do you feel about that?”

“I’m really happy for her. I probably would have been upset a few years ago, but I’m glad she has someone. She deserves to be happy,” Clarke explained. “She had a really rough time after my dad died and she hadn’t started going back to who she was before that until recently. It’s nice not having to worry about her as much.”

Lexa had to smile at that. She could relate to a certain extent – she worried about Anya for quite a while after their father passed away. At first Lexa was frustrated with her sister for being so upset, but eventually she realized that Anya was old enough to remember a time where their father was actually a dad. For Lexa, all she could remember was who he turned into after their mom died. Unlike Anya, Lexa didn’t have a dad to mourn – just a father. To her, there was a big difference between the two.

“I’m glad then, too. It sounds like she’s spent a lot of time being lonely.” Lexa could relate to _that_ , too.

Clarke nodded in agreement. She was looking down then and biting at her bottom lip. That familiar blush was also back. Lexa was just about to ask what she was thinking about when Clarke spoke. “I kind of told her about you,” she admitted quietly.

“Oh.”

The one word answer caused a major knot in Clarke’s stomach. She instantly wanted to take the words back. “I’m sorry. That was… I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry. I just…wasn’t expecting that.” Clarke looked up to see if Lexa was telling her the truth. Lexa was smiling at her. “How did that go?”

The blonde seemed to relax with that. “She was cool about it. She was excited, actually. So excited that she immediately wanted to plan out a double date for her to meet you and for me to meet Marcus.” Lexa would have been alarmed if it weren’t for Clarke’s smile. “Don’t worry, I told her that we’re going to hold off on that for a while.”

Lexa laughed with only a hint of nervousness. “Well, she definitely seems eager.”

“Oh, she is. There’s no doubt about that.”

There was a moment of silence while Lexa tried to decide if she should tell Clarke about the talk her and Anya had. She eventually decided to go for it. “If it helps any, my sister interrogated me when I got home from our last date. I suppose you could classify her as eager, too.”

Clarke’s heart jumped at the word “date.” She obviously knew they were dates, but saying it out loud made it more real. Even though Clarke couldn’t detect the nervousness in Lexa’s laugh before, Lexa definitely noted it in Clarke’s. “I’m not sure if I like the sound of ‘interrogation.’”

“Well, it was slightly less painful than usual because there was alcohol involved and, as I’m sure you remember, I’m a bit of a lightweight. It would have been unbearable if I were sober,” she explained. Clarke agreed with the lightweight comment. “Anyway, she had a million and one questions about you and I deflected at least half of them.”

Clarke was intrigued now. “How did _that_ go?”

“It was ridiculous, just like pretty much every conversation with her,” Lexa said. “She tends to go out of her way to make every interaction between us as annoying as possible.”

“It was really that bad?”

Lexa sighed. “My sister is the worst. She eventually did say that she wants me to be happy, so I guess that has to count for something.”

“That sounds oddly familiar. In fact, my mother was just texting me…”

She found the messages between her and her mom and then held her phone out for Lexa to see. The most recent text read: _**Have fun, sweetie! Stay safe and tell Lexa I said hi!**_

“She’s sweet,” Lexa said, smiling. “What does she do for a living?”

Clarke quickly sent one more text and then put her phone back in her pocket. “She’s a nurse. She quit for a while after my dad died and went back part-time. She only went back full-time about a year ago.”

“Does she work at a hospital?”

“Right now she’s at a pediatric clinic. She doesn’t like to stay at one place for long, so she usually stays for two or three years and then transfers to a different specialty,” Clarke said. 

Lexa nodded. As she put the chopped up olives into a bowl and went to search for a pan, she asked, “Is she why you went into the medical field?”

“Partially,” Clarke said. “I also got interested when my dad died. There was a doctor there who worked on him when we were brought in after the accident. She was the one who told me that he didn’t make it. She consoled me until my mom got to the hospital and she had to tell my mom, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Lexa whispered. 

Clarke smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s actually kind of weird how it worked out. That doctor inspired me to become a doctor because of her compassion with me and my dad. Then, once I started rotations in med school, she was the person who mentored me when I did a rotation at the ER where I work now. She’s my boss.”

“Wow. That is really weird. Is it weird working with her after…?”

Clarke shook her head, already knowing where the question was headed. “It was a little strange at first, but she was a huge inspiration for me. That overshadows the fact that she couldn’t save my dad,” she said. There were tears in her eyes that she wiped away with the towels wrapped around her finger.

“She sounds like she’s really important to you,” Lexa observed.

“She is,” she agreed.

They were quiet while Lexa greased the pan in front of her and then laid out the pizza crust that Lexa had made the day before. Clarke enjoyed watching Lexa work – there was something about watching someone focus on something that she found entrancing. Lexa started piling toppings on the crust while Clarke continued to watch. Once everything was on there, she popped the pan into the oven.

“I haven’t asked you yet…how is the job search going for you?” Clarke asked.

Based off of the look Lexa had, Clarke began to wish that she hadn’t asked. She didn’t mean to bring up a sore spot. Still, Lexa answered. “Not so great. I’m hoping that there’s going to be more job opening towards the end of the summer, but there aren’t many options right now.”

“Is there a certain age group that you want to teach?”

Lexa just shrugged. “I’m most interested in special education, but I’ll take pretty much anything at this point.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sure something will come along soon,” she said empathetically.

No matter how hard she tried to stay positive, it was getting harder for Lexa to keep her head up. The money she saved up in college was slowly running out, which meant her apartment probably wouldn’t be hers for much longer. She was beginning to accept the fact that she would likely be moving back in with her sister sooner rather than later. It was hard to swallow because, although she spent very little time there, she liked having a place of her own where she could go if she wanted or needed to.

Lexa had to drag herself out of her thoughts. “Yeah, hopefully.”

To shift the conversation, Lexa went over to the dining room table where she had their dessert options laid out, grabbed as many of the boxes as possible, and then brought them over to where Clarke was sitting. Clarke watched as Lexa struggled to juggle all of it and she had to hold back a laugh. She wondered if Lexa always went overboard with these kinds of things or if she was so nervous for tonight that she had to buy so much food for the two of them.

“Do you know what you want for dessert?” Lexa asked. “I have the stuff for cake, cupcakes, brownies, muffins, and strawberry shortcake.”

Clarke shook her head incredulously. She decided to joke and say, “I’m not sure. I don’t think we have enough to pick from.”

“Hey, you can never say that I didn’t come prepared,” she pointed out. Still, there was a hint of embarrassment behind her words.

“You’re not wrong,” Clarke agreed. “How about brownies?”

Blushing, Lexa grabbed two boxes from the pile of options. “Chocolate or double chocolate?”

“Double,” she decided. She saw Lexa reaching for two containers of frosting and pointed at the chocolate one. “I’m a chocolate girl.”

“Good to know,” Lexa noted. She went over to the cabinet next to the oven and pulled out a pan and mixing bowl. 

Clarke watched her grab the eggs from the fridge and search for a spoon to mix the ingredients. Once she started to open the box of brownie mix, Clarke offered to be in charge of holding the bowl and mixing everything up once Lexa got everything settled. “It’s the one job I should be able to do without killing either of us,” she explained.

Lexa laughed, “Are you sure about that?”

“That’s rude!” Clarke said, playfully pushing Lexa’s shoulder with her non-injured hand. Lexa just continued to try to get the bag of brownie mix open, but she that wasn’t working out too well. Eventually Clarke took the bag from her and tore it open on the first try.

Lexa got wide-eyed, genuinely impressed. She quickly recovered. “Show off,” she said under her breath.

“I didn’t go to medical school for no reason,” she joked.

The brunette said, “Dr. Clarke to the rescue!”

Clarke shook her head and smiled while Lexa dumped ingredients into the bowl that Clarke held in her lap. Once everything was in the bowl, Lexa handed her the wooden spoon and watched her stir. She was trying to mix up the ingredients with her left hand because the right hand still had a paper towel wrapped around the injured finger, but that wasn’t going well. After a few minutes of concentrated mixing, Clarke’s hand was getting tired. She also hadn’t ever made brownies before. “Is this mixed enough?” she asked.

Lexa eyed the lumpy brownie batter in the bowl and cocked an eyebrow. She couldn’t suppress her laughter when she said, “Really?”

“What?”

“Clarke, it’s not supposed to have any lumps in it.”

“I’m honestly not used to this whole cooking thing,” Clarke admitted, even though it was already painfully obvious. She went back to stirring and focused on getting the mixture smoother.

Lexa worked on disposing the box for the brownie mix and the egg shells. “I’m going to have to start giving you cooking lessons.”

“First you might want to invest in a first aid kit,” Clarke mumbled. She didn’t mind the prospect of learning how to cook…if Lexa was the one to teach her, especially if it involved this playful side of the girl. She didn’t mind the more serious side, but she liked someone who was fun, too. So far, there wasn’t anything about Lexa that she didn’t like.

Lexa came back over and checked the progress of the batter. It was getting closer. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll teach you how to cook, but you have to promise not to kill either of us. We also have to adhere to the B.Y.O.B. rule,” she proposed.

“What exactly does that rule entail?”

“It stands for ‘bring your own bandaids,’” she explained. “I provide my talents and you bring the live saving measures.”

Clarke burst into laughter. “Somehow I don’t think bandaids are going to save anyone’s life, but I’ll go along with it.”

“It’s a deal.”

Clarke stopped stirring long enough to shake Lexa’s hand in order to seal the deal. She then checked the consistency of the batter and asked for Lexa’s “expert opinion.” She decided that it was “good enough.”

“What does ‘good enough’ mean?”

Lexa pretended to think about it for a few long seconds. “It means it’s as good as it’s going to get, considering your lack of baking skills,” she said with a straight face.

Clarke pretended to be offended. “You better be nice to me or you won’t get to lick the spoon when we’re done,” she threatened. 

The two went back and forth until Clarke hopped down from the counter so they could pour the batter into the greased pan. Lexa held the pan as Clarke slowly poured the bowl’s contents into it. After it was all in the pan, Clarke held the spoon out to Lexa. She took the spoon and licked off the leftover batter. Lexa went to turn and put the spoon and bowl into the sink, but Clarke stopped her by grabbing her arm. “Wait,” she said once she had the other girl’s attention. Clarke quickly leaned in and kissed her cheek, closer to her mouth than when Lexa did the same the last time they saw each other. “There you go.”

Lexa was taken by surprise. She was blushing a brighter red than the color of her t-shirt. “What was that for?”

“You had some chocolate on your cheek,” Clarke lied. 

Lexa obviously didn’t believe her. “Sure there was.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” she challenged. She tried to remain serious, but her devious smile was too hard to resist.

“I would never do such a thing.”

The grin on Lexa’s face made Clarke smile wider. In a brief moment of bravery, she closed the space between them. With her good hand cupping Lexa’s cheek, Clarke pressed the softest of kisses against Lexa’s lips. It lasted only a few seconds; far too short for Lexa’s liking. When Lexa opened her eyes after Clarke pulled away, the smile on her face took her breath away.

“Maybe you should call me a liar.”

**********

“So, what’s the verdict?”

They were both on their second piece of the pizza when Lexa finally caved and asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue since Clarke took her first bite. Clarke sat back and glared at Lexa through narrowed eyes. Lexa was grinning, which only made Clarke glare longer. 

“It’s very good,” she finally said. “You make some delicious pizza crust.”

Lexa stared her down now. “And compared to the restaurant you took me to…?”

“It’s comparable,” Clarke admitted. 

“I was hoping you would say that it’s better, but I’ll take comparable.”

Clarke shook her head and suddenly the oven beeped, indicating that their brownies were done baking. The noise startled Clarke. Because Lexa was still eating and she was done, Clarke offered to pull the pan out of the oven. She even followed Lexa’s instructions with sticking a toothpick into the brownies to make sure that they were fully baked on the inside. When she was sure that they were done, she grabbed a knife and spread the frosting on the brownies. She then cut two squares out and put them on separate plates. Shortly after, Lexa finished her pizza and put her and Clarke’s plates in the sink. Clarke brought the brownies over to the table and sat them down. Lexa thanked her with a smile.

“Anything chocolate and fresh out of the oven is enough to melt my heart,” Clarke said before taking a bite. She moaned dramatically once she took a bite of the warm chocolate.

Lexa laughed as she took a bite of her brownie. She had to admit that they were pretty tasty. “We make good brownies,” Lexa said.

They sat in silence as they finished eating. Lexa was taking her last bite when she suddenly heard a noise. For a moment, Lexa thought she heard something in her living room. Clarke must have heard it too because the two exchanged a curious look. It was quiet for a few moments and then they heard the noise again. Seconds later they heard the sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door. Only one person had a key to Lexa’s apartment and – 

Lexa darted up from the table and into the living room just in time to see an exasperated Anya bursting through the door. “I knew you would be here! Why didn’t you answer your damn phone?”

“Anya–”

Anya just rolled her eyes and then Aden stepped in behind her. Apparently Anya didn’t notice Lexa’s deer-in-the-headlights look because she just kept talking. She was too busy throwing a backpack and luggage bag on couch to notice Clarke standing behind Lexa. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. There was a work emergency and Nia didn’t give me much of an option–”

“ _Anya_.”

Finally that got her attention. First she looked at Lexa, who looked mortified, and then she laid eyes on the blonde. She looked between the two of them several times before it registered. Anya’s exasperated look turned into a knowing grin. 

“Oh _shit_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	15. Chapter Fifteen

If Lexa could have disappeared, she would have done so willingly. In fact, she would do just about anything if it meant that Anya was no longer standing in front of her with literally the most irritating grin on her face. 

“This is fucking _great_ ,” Anya cackled. She pointed at Clarke and then at Lexa. “This is the girl. Oh my god. This is awesome.”

It took everything in her to not smack Anya. Lexa probably would have if Aden wasn’t standing there trying to figure out why his mom was laughing so hysterically. “Anya, you should really leave,” Lexa said, her voice unwavering.

“Oh, I’m leaving. We have _a lot_ to talk about when I get home.”

Aden piped up from where he stood next to his mom. He was eyeing Clarke when the realization hit. Eventually he asked, “Weren’t you my doctor when my tummy was hurting really bad?”

Clarke looked flustered, but it wasn’t obvious when she spoke to the boy, other than when she nervously cleared her throat. She smiled warmly. “I was your doctor. I’m surprised you remember me!”

“My little sister is seeing a doctor,” Anya mused. Lexa really, _really_ wanted to smack that grin off her face.

Suddenly Aden grew concerned. “Lexa, why is my doctor here? Are you sick?”

“I…No, Aden, I’m fine. I’m not sick.”

He didn’t believe her. “Are you sure? Your face is really red. I think you have a fever.”

Anya laughed harder and Lexa just covered her face with her hands, trying to recover and resist the urge to scream. They were having a great time until her annoying sister had to show up. Lexa would have a lot of choice words for her once there wasn’t a kid around to hear it.

“Aden, I promise I’m fine,” she assured him. Then she turned to her sister. “You seriously need to go and take your child with you.”

Anya held her hands up as if she were surrendering. “I’ll leave, but I unfortunately have to leave him with you. Nia had a family emergency and can’t make it to a massive meeting in New York tomorrow morning. I have a flight headed there in two hours,” she explained.

Lexa was not okay with anything that came out of her sister’s mouth. “Anya, I–”

“Lex, I’m sorry. I really have to go.” With that, she grabbed her purse. Before heading for the door, she waved at Clarke. “It was great to meet you! We should talk sometime. I have _so_ much to tell you about how awful my sister is.”

Nobody had a chance to say anything in response because Anya was gone within a matter of seconds. When the door slam shut to announce her departure, Lexa surveyed her living room that was perfectly bare just a few minutes ago. Now there were overnight bags and a very confused looking Aden. 

“Lexa, are you sure you aren’t sick?” Aden asked again. Because he didn’t trust his aunt to tell the truth, he turned to Clarke. “Have you taken her temperature?”

Clarke laughed and shook her head. “No, I haven’t, but I promise she isn’t sick.”

“Well, if you’re a doctor and Lexa isn’t sick, why are you here?”

Clarke looked at Lexa, hoping she would answer that one. Thankfully Lexa recovered enough to come up with an answer that would suffice. “Well, we were just having dinner, and I think there happens to be some pizza and brownies left. Did you and your mom eat?”

“Brownies sound good” was all he said before walking off to the kitchen. Lexa should have been responsible and asked if he had already eaten, but she knew food would stop the questions for at least a few minutes.

Clarke and Lexa both followed him into the kitchen. Aden’s recent growth spurt left him tall enough to reach the counter and grab the biggest brownie in the pan. He didn’t bother asking for a paper towel or plate – instead, he just settled in at the dining room table and started eating. He eyed the two women, who were standing in the doorway. “Aren’t you guys going to have one?”

“Well, we already ate one, but I think I could use more chocolate.” Lexa looked at Clarke. “What about you?”

“Sure, why not?”

Clarke was slightly surprised that Lexa hadn’t asked her to leave. She was certainly caught off guard by Anya randomly showing up, but she didn’t exactly want to go home, either. She took it as a good sign that Lexa was comfortable having her around her nephew. Though they met before, she was still shocked. Maybe Lexa was more comfortable around her than she thought.

Lexa grabbed brownies for the both of them and several paper towels for Aden, whose face and hands were already covered in chocolate. As Lexa watched him eat, she knew she was going to regret giving the kid chocolate so close to his bed time. “You better not be up all night after eating that,” Lexa said, giving him a pointed look.

“I promise I’ll sleep if you let me have another one,” he challenged.

Clarke chuckled from beside Lexa. Lexa shook her and said, “That’s not how this works, kid.”

Aden pouted, but kept quiet. He finished eating and attempted to wipe his hands and face off using the paper towel Lexa gave him. Unfortunately, he just smeared the chocolate around and made a bigger mess than before. Eventually Lexa got up to wet a paper towel and then clean him off herself. 

“You should go get your pajamas on,” she told him once he was clean.

Again, he pouted. “I’m not tired,” he whined. “Can I watch a movie first?”

Lexa considered it and decided she could let him stay up past his bed time just this once. Besides, with how much sugar he ate, he would probably be awake anyway…plus he usually would fall asleep half way through the movie. “Yes, we can watch a movie, but I want you to go put your PJs on first,” she said.

“ _Yes_!” he shouted. Suddenly he was full of energy. “Clarke, can you watch the movie with us?”

Clarke smiled and looked at Lexa as if she were asking for permission. “As long as your aunt says it’s alright, I'd love to stay,” she said.

“Of course,” Lexa answered.

Aden bounced up and down in his seat and clapped his hands. “We’re having a sleepover!”

Lexa knew she would end up regretting that decision by tomorrow morning. She had a feeling Aden would either be up all night with too much energy or an upset stomach and she didn’t really want to deal with either option. She silently prayed that he would keep up his streak of falling asleep during movies. “Go put your pajamas on and then you can decide what movie we’re going to watch,” Lexa told him.

Once he ran to the living room to grab his bag of clothes and then went off to Lexa’s bedroom to change, Lexa went to kitchen to put the leftover food away. Clarke went with to help.

“Are you sure it’s okay that I stay?” Clarke asked. “I don’t want to intrude.”

Lexa smiled as she put the pizza in the fridge. “You’re not intruding,” she assured her. “I’m sorry about tonight.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve had a lot of fun so far. Aden is adorable and your sister seems…interesting.”

“’Interesting’ is a nice way of saying it.”

Clarke laughed and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I _am_ curious to see what she has to tell me about you,” she joked. 

“Oh, I’m sure it will involve plenty of embarrassing stories from high school. Believe it or not, I was a bit of a nerd back in the day.”

“Somehow I can believe that,” Clarke laughed.

Lexa playfully smacked Clarke’s arm. “Hey!”

“What? I happen to think nerds are cute.”

“Sure you do,” Lexa said. “I have you pegged for one of the popular girls, but not one of the snotty ones. I think you were the popular girl that was nice to the nerds and obviously you got straight A’s, considering you were practically a doctor by the time you graduated from high school.”

Clarke laughed again, solely because Lexa was almost completely accurate. “You’re right about being ‘popular,’ but I wasn’t even close to being a doctor yet.”

“You were closer than any other newly graduated high school student,” she said.

“That’s true.”

Aden reappeared from Lexa’s bedroom and was in his pajamas. He was wearing his favorite pajamas – the ones covered in dinosaurs. They were also getting tight due to his recent growth spurt, but he refused to part ways with them. Lexa quit arguing with him a week ago.

“Clarke, I have something to show you!” Aden announced. He grabbed her hand and practically drug her into the living room. Lexa hung back to see where he was headed, which was to one of his other overnight bags. He rummaged through them before locating what he was looking for. He pulled out the teddy bear that Clarke brought him after his appendectomy. “Look!”

Clarke knelt down and smiled. “You still have him!”

Aden nodded enthusiastically. “He helped me get better when I was sick, so now he sleeps with me every night.”

Lexa smiled from where she stood in the doorway. She had no idea that he slept with the bear every night; she’d actually forgotten about it altogether once Aden was healthy again. 

“Do you still have the chocolate that I brought you, too?” Clarke asked. There was a hint of amusement in her voice.

Aden laughed and shook his head. “No, I ate it. I think it helped me get better though.”

“Chocolate _does_ have special healing powers,” she joked. His eyes lit up as if he believed that it was the chocolate that nursed him back to health. Lexa made a mental note to talk to him about that later; she didn’t need him begging for chocolate even more than usual.

Aden changed the subject. “Do you want to help me pick a movie?”

“Sure! What movies do you have?”

He walked over to the couch and grabbed the bag that his bear was in. He pulled out a stack of movies that he brought with him and laid them out on the floor for Clarke to see. Aden pointed at each movie and told her what each of them were. Neither of them noticed Lexa still watching them from the doorway, smiling as she admired how easily the two of them got along. Lexa’s biggest worry until now was that her role as Aden’s main caretaker would get in the way of any future relationship that came her way.

As she watched Clarke and Aden decide on a movie, she realized that it might not be that big of a deal after all.

**********

They were an hour into the movie when Aden’s head rested against Lexa’s side and started snoring softly. Lexa chuckled and Clarke joined in once she saw what Lexa was laughing at. Careful not to stir him too much, Lexa snuck one arm behind Aden’s back and the other under his knees. She picked him up and carried him to her bed, tucking him in once he was comfortable. She also grabbed his teddy bear and tucked under the blanket with him. She kissed him on the forehead and whispered, “Love you, kid.”

As expected, Aden didn’t respond. He didn’t even move to get more comfortable. Quietly, Lexa shut off the lamp on her bedside table and shut the bedroom door behind her as she left him to sleep.

Back in the living room, Clarke was still contentedly watching the movie that Aden had picked. She was enthralled with the movie until she saw Lexa reappear from her room, which was when she lit up. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, he’s out cold. Movies always do that to him.”

Lexa went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Clarke followed and leaned against the counter. “So, do I really need to be afraid of your sister?” she asked, actually sounding somewhat concerned.

“She’s annoying, but she’s almost all talk. She’s definitely going to question you, though. Protecting her baby sister and all,” she said sarcastically.

“Fair enough. I have a feeling Octavia will do the same. Thankfully Raven trusts my decision making skills as a grown adult, so I doubt she’s going to give you much trouble.”

The fact that, when talking about meeting each other’s friends and family, they had gone from referring to it as a possibility to something that’s probably actually going to happen was only slightly nerve-wracking for Lexa. Her previous experiences with doing so left a lot to be desired. 

“Well, I really am sorry about my sister barging in like that. She has little to no respect for boundaries,” she said.

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Seriously, it’s okay. Aden is probably the most tolerable kid I’ve ever met.”

“I thought you liked kids…”

The blonde grimaced. “I did until I got thrown up on work yesterday…twice. By the same kid.”

“Yeah, I would hate kids too,” Lexa decided. “That’s awful.”

“It was. So, as long as Aden doesn’t puke on me, he and I can be friends.”

Lexa laughed and shook her head. “If he ever throws up on me, he’ll have to go find a new aunt.”

The two chatted for a while longer, until Clarke looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. Lexa apologized for keeping her for so long, completely forgetting that she had to work in the morning, but Clarke insisted that she could handle being tired in the morning. When Clarke decided it was time to leave, Lexa offered to walk her outside.

They made the long trek downstairs and across the street to Clarke’s car. Clarke hugged Lexa and thanked her for having her over, but neither of them made a move to leave. Instead, Clarke fumbled with her keys. She looked nervous, though Lexa didn’t push her to find out why. Eventually Clarke spoke up. “Can I ask you something?”

“Always,” she said earnestly.

“Okay…so, you don’t have to say yes or anything and you definitely won’t hurt my feelings if you so no or whatever…you can totally think about it first, of course. I was just wondering, maybe, if you want or you’re okay with it–” She noticed that Lexa was smirking at her, trying not to laugh at her rambling. It made her blush even more. _Just spit it out already_ , she told herself. She took a deep breath and tried again, but still didn’t look up from the ground. “Anyway, what I’m trying to ask is if you would like to go to Octavia’s wedding with me. Like, as my date.”

“Of course,” Lexa answered.

Clarke finally looked up and she looked quite shocked. “Really?”

“Yes, _really_. Did you think I would say no?” she joked.

“I thought you would at least think about it. I nearly gave myself an aneurism trying to spit out the damn question, then you go and answer with absolutely no hesitation. How anticlimactic.” She tried to sound offended, but she was actually smiling.

“How dare I,” Lexa laughed. 

“I know. You’re so rude,” she joked. “Seriously, though. You’ll go?”

“Yeah, I’ll go. Although, I don’t think I own any clothing suitable for a wedding, but I think that can easily be fixed.”

“I’ll take you shopping myself if I have to.”

“That might make it more tolerable, considering I haven’t bought any new clothes in years because I hate shopping so much,” she said. It was true. When she graduated from high school and college, Anya ended up purchasing dresses and just hoped that they fit because Lexa refused to go with. She had to admit that it sounded slightly less awful if Clarke was going, though.

Clarke sighed, “You’re ridiculous.”

“I hear that a lot.”

Lexa knew it was getting later, but Clarke didn’t seem to be in too big of a rush to get home. With Aden sleeping, Lexa wasn’t in much of a hurry to get back inside. It was a cool, breezy evening and, well, the company wasn’t all that terrible either.

“I do have _one_ piece of bad news for you,” Clarke said.

Lexa looked at her expectantly. “And what is that?”

“My mom is going to be at the wedding and I don’t think she’s going to want to meet you at the wedding for the first time. You’re probably going to have to meet her beforehand.”

Lexa smiled. “That does sound a bit intimidating, but I think I can handle it.”

“Good. Besides, I think dealing with Octavia is going to be more of a task than meeting my mom,” she admitted.

“Good to know.”

Clarke looked at the clock at the time on her phone again and grimaced. “I guess I should get home. There’s not going to be enough coffee in the world to wake me up in the morning.”

“Well, perhaps I can stop by with some coffee.”

She smiled. “I definitely wouldn’t turn that down.” Finally making a move to leave, she hugged Lexa one more time. “Thank you again for tonight.”

“Anytime,” she said. When Clarke pulled away, she instantly missed the smell of her perfume. That alone was almost scarier than the prospect of meeting Clarke’s mother.

“Goodnight,” Clarke said, smiling as she got into the car.

Lexa waved back. “Goodnight, Clarke.”

She stood there on the sidewalk long after Clarke had driven off into the night.

**********

As Lexa crawled into bed and got under the covers, she felt Aden stir behind her. She figured he was moving around in his sleep, but a few seconds later she heard him sleepily whisper “Lexa?”

“Yeah?” She rolled onto her back to find him looking at her in the dark.

“Is Clarke the person you went on a date with?”

Of course he caught on. She was thankful that he at least waited to ask until after Clarke left. “Yes, she is,” she whispered back.

He went quiet and Lexa started wondering if he had fallen back asleep. Instead, he was thinking. “Is she your girlfriend?” he quietly asked.

“I don’t think she is yet.”

Again, he was quiet. “I think she should be,” he decided.

She grinned even though she knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. “I’m glad you think so.”

“I think she’s pretty.”

Lexa had to laugh at that. “Can I let you in on a little secret?” she asked. She felt Aden nod. “I think she’s pretty too.”

Aden laughed and poked Lexa in the side, making her squirm away. “You have a _crush_ on Clarke,” he accused.

It was too dark for him to see, which she was thankful for, but Lexa was blushing. “Maybe,” she admitted.

“It’s okay. I won’t tell her,” he said seriously.

She smiled and reached over to run her fingers through his hair. “You’re a good kid.”

“Because I won’t tell Clarke that you have a crush on her?”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “Because of a lot of things,” she said. “Anyway, you should get some sleep. We can go get breakfast in the morning.”

“Okay,” he simply said. He was easy to please. He grabbed his teddy bear and scooted closer to Lexa, rolling onto his side and cuddling up against Lexa’s. It wasn’t long before he was out cold and snoring.

Lexa drifted off just as quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia is annoying, Clarke slips up, and sleepy Lexa is cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life is about to get crazy over the next few weeks, so there unfortunately might not be a new chapter for a bit after this one. Hopefully two chapters in one week will tide you over. :)

Octavia, Lincoln, Raven, and Clarke were seated with three small pieces of cake in front of each of them. They had already tried two other flavors, but Octavia had insisted that they try more than just those two. Fortunately, the woman from the cattery company was used to brides who couldn’t settle on a flavor for their wedding cake. They were thankful for her patience.

“I just can’t decide between the red velvet or the white cake,” Octavia sighed. “Both are amazing.”

Everyone else was getting tired of eating the sweets, so they agreed with whatever Octavia said – especially Lincoln. He was exhausted from work and complained on several occasions that he just wanted to be sleeping. Octavia wouldn’t let him skip out on tasting cakes.

Like with most things regarding the wedding, Octavia decided that she needed time to think about it before making any decisions. The woman in charge reminded her that the wedding was only two months away and they needed to get the order in as soon as possible. Octavia promised she would contact them with her decision within the next week.

After finishing at the bakery, they all piled back into Raven’s car and went to Octavia’s apartment. She swore that they would get to do something not related to the wedding, but Raven and Clarke knew better. Everything over the last few months ended up turning into wedding planning. Today, though, Octavia promised that they would watch a movie and order dinner. 

As soon as they got to the apartment, Lincoln excused himself to go take a nap. Octavia was visibly annoyed, but decided not to push it, considering Lincoln had been working a significant amount of overtime in order to pay for the wedding. 

“Is Luna still coming?” Octavia asked.

Raven looked at the time on her phone and nodded. “She should be off by now. She’ll be here anytime.”

The three of them piled into the living room with the stack of take-out menus that they had accumulated over the years. They fished through them, trying to decide what to order. “How are things going with her, anyway?” Clarke asked.

“Good,” she said. “We’re actually talking about her moving in with me.”

That got their attention. They both dropped the menus they were sorting through. Clarke lit up. “Really?”

Raven nodded. “Yeah. I mean, she’s pretty much at my place anyway, unless she’s working. We both agree that it’s silly for her to pay for an apartment that she rarely stays at. It just makes sense.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “You know, you could just say that you’re head over heels for each other. Calling it convenience works, too, though.”

Raven swatted at her, though she was also smiling. “Shut up. Besides, heels don’t exactly work with this thing,” she joked, pointing at her prosthetic leg.

“Speaking of, I’ve always wondered how exactly sex works with that.”

Clarke grabbed the closest hard object, which happened to be a remote, and flung it across the room. It hit Octavia square in the chest. “ _Octavia!_ ”

“What? I was just curious!”

“You don’t just ask people that!” Clarke shouted. Beside her, Raven was chuckling to herself.

“She doesn’t look offended,” Octavia countered.

“That doesn’t make it okay!”

Octavia looked at Raven, who was blushing and pretending to be looking at a menu. “Rae, you never answered the question.”

“Luna certainly hasn’t complained,” she muttered.

This time Octavia lit up and burst into a fit of laughter. Right at the perfect timing, Luna came through the front door and assessed the situation – Octavia cackling, Clarke looking like she wanted to kill Octavia, and Raven blushing but laughing. “Do I even want to know?” she asked, making her way to sit next to her girlfriend.

Clarke answered for her. “Octavia was just _rudely_ questioning Raven’s sex life with only having one leg.”

Luna started laughing and bent down to kiss Raven before sitting next to her. “I think it’s just fine.”

“Told you,” Raven bragged, flipping off Octavia. “I have received exactly zero complaints.”

“Actually,” Luna started, “the other night, when you couldn’t get the prosthetic off–” 

“That was your fault!”

Luna gasped. “If you remember correctly, you were the one who told me to wear that red dress that you like and then you–“

“Okay!” Clarke interrupted her and quickly stood up. “I really don’t want to hear the rest of that sentence, so I’m going to the bathroom and you two better be talking about something else by the time I’m done peeing.”

She heard the three girls laughing as she went down the hall to the bathroom. She really didn’t need to go, but she definitely wasn’t interested in the rest of the conversation. Instead, once the bathroom door shut, she pulled her phone from her pocket and saw a text from Lexa. She was smiling before she pulled up the message.

_How’s the torturous girls’ night going?_

They hadn’t seen each other in about two weeks – Clarke was either working or had plans already made and Lexa was watching Aden when Clarke was available – but they were texting plenty. Every time she received a message, Clarke wished she were with Lexa rather than whatever she was doing at the time. 

**My friends are disgusting. We haven’t even ordered dinner and I’m exhausted. How’s your night going?**

Her reply was almost instant. _Well, Aden has a cold and the shit that’s coming out of his nose is also disgusting._ And then another text: _What did your friends do?_

Clarke explained Octavia’s intrusive questioning and the conversation that followed. Lexa agreed that the questions were ridiculous. Clarke was glad that she had at least one person on her side.

They exchanged a few more messages before Clarke decided that she should rejoin her friends in the living room. They seemed to have went back to figuring out dinner. When she sat back down next to Raven, Octavia announced that they decided on Chinese and were putting in the order. While she did that, the others tried to decide on a movie to watch. Eventually they picked some comedy that they all agreed wasn’t all that funny, but continued to watch it anyway.

While they ate dinner, Clarke’s phone vibrated. She was glad to find that it was a text from Lexa with an attachment. There was a picture of Aden, who looked half asleep, cuddling with the bear that Clarke gave him. The text read, _He said to tell you that the bear is helping him get better, but he could still use some chocolate. If this kid ends up with a cavity, I’m sending you the dentist’s bill since you said chocolate has healing powers._

She typed out a quick response and hit send. They bantered back and forth until Clarke relented and told her to drop off the bill.

**********

When the movie ended, Octavia had to bring up the wedding. They should have known that going a whole night without it was too good to be true.

“O, I know you want to work on this stuff 24/7, but you promised that we wouldn’t tonight,” Clarke whined.

“Actually, I said we would watch a movie, which we did and now–”

Raven sighed. “What is it that you want to do?”

“I got a few more RSVPs, so we just need to go over the seating chart for the reception one more time,” she explained.

“You know more people are probably going to RSVP, right?”

There was no sense in arguing. They tried, but they still ended up at the dining room table with Octavia’s seating chart diagram sitting in front of them. After moving a few people around, it was brought up that Abby was going to bring her boyfriend.

“How do you feel about her seeing someone?” Raven asked.

They didn’t talk about her mom much, mostly because the other girls had no way of knowing whether she and Clarke were talking from day to day. Their relationship was rough and dangerous territory. “I’m happy for her. I think having someone around will do her a lot of good,” she said. 

“Have you met him yet?” Octavia asked.

Clarke shook her head. “Not yet. We’re going to see my mom and meet him before the wedding.”

Nobody caught it at first, until Octavia spoke up. “Who is ‘we’?”

“What?”

“You just said ‘we’ are going to meet him before the wedding. Who is ‘we’?”

Clarke hadn’t even noticed her own mistake. In true Clarke fashion, she tried to cover up the lie instead of telling her friends the truth. “Oh, it’s just me going. We haven’t picked a day yet or anything.”

Luckily for Clarke’s parents when she was younger, there were obvious signs for when they knew Clarke was lying. The biggest sign was how red she would turn. Then, if she tried to lie her way out of her own lie, she would suddenly become unable to make eye contact. No matter how small the lie, she would also start twirling her hair around her index finger.

Unfortunately for Clarke, her friends were well versed in those signs, too. Clarke had done plenty of lying since the girls met back in high school.

Octavia took notice. “Clarke,” she said pointedly.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes at how painfully obvious the lie was. “You said ‘we.’”

“So? I misspoke.” Finally she looked up and saw everyone staring at her. She pointed at Raven and said, “Aren’t you going to stick up for me?”

Raven looked around the table and then laughed. “Sorry, not this time. I have to agree with O on this one.”

Clarke scoffed. “That’s not fair!”

“You’re so red that look like you have a low-grade fever. You’re barely making eye contact and if you twirl your hair any faster, I think you’re going to be partially bald,” Raven said. Next to her, Luna was trying not to laugh. Octavia was staring her down as if she was questioning Clarke, which was actually pretty close to the truth.

The thing is, Clarke really should have known better. She was the worst at keeping secrets and she was honestly surprised that they hadn’t caught on sooner. There were multiple instances over the past two weeks where the girls caught Clarke doing something on her phone, but she was able to tell a little white lie each time. All she wanted to do was keep Lexa to herself as long as humanly possible because every single relationship she had was with someone that all of the girls knew. For just once, she wanted something private. She wanted something that her friends – namely Octavia – couldn’t weasel their way into.

Everything considered, her two months alone with Lexa was a lot longer than she expected.

“Fine,” Clarke said.

Octavia looked as if she had been slapped. “’Fine’? That’s it? You’re going to need to say more than that, sweetheart.”

Clarke huffed and buried her face in her hands. She wished she would have just kept her mouth shut or at least paid attention to what she was saying. She was clumsy and she only had one way to dig herself out of the massive hole she suddenly found herself in.

“Clarke,” Octavia said again. She sounded like she was being scolded by her mother.

She finally sat up straight, sighed, and blurted, “I’m seeing someone.”

Nobody said anything for what felt like an eternity. Everyone looked genuinely surprised, so they must have not been all that suspicious with the texting. There was a weight lifted off of her shoulders, but the lack of response was just as nerve-wracking.

“If I would have known this is how you guys were going to react, I would have said something sooner,” she said.

Raven was surprisingly the first one to speak. “Well, I can honestly say that I did not expect that.”

“Wait, you’ve been seeing someone and we had no idea? How long have you been hiding this?” Octavia questioned. Clarke couldn’t tell if she was upset or merely curious. 

“Two–”

“Only two weeks?”

“Two months.”

That certainly got Octavia’s attention. “Two months?! You’ve been seeing this person for two months and we’re just now hearing about it?!”

“That seems to be the case, Octavia,” Luna said sarcastically. She was sitting back and watching the situation, looking quite entertained by it all. 

Octavia shook her head as if she couldn’t believe that Clarke didn’t send out a mass text the second she met someone. “If that’s true, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

“What exactly am I supposed to explain?”

Again, she looked dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you tell us? What’s his name? Do we know him? I need to know everything!”

“Okay, well I would appreciate one question at a time,” she started. It was her way of telling Octavia to sit down and relax. “First of all, _her_ name is Lexa and, no, you don’t know her.” Octavia went to ask something else, but Clarke gave her the _look_. “I met her at the bar one night after you guys left.”

“Details!”

Clarke wanted to throw something at Octavia again, but all she had was her phone and she wasn’t going to risk that. “It was on Lincoln’s birthday. I was getting ready to leave when I saw her stumbling outside. I went to ask if she was okay and she basically blacked out. All I found in her purse was her wallet and phone. I figured out that she was there alone, so I basically drug her to my car and she passed out at my apartment. She was so embarrassed the next morning. I ended up driving her home.”

She explained how she expected to never see the girl again and how she ended up in the emergency room. That led to Aden’s appendix bursting and then the coffee with Lexa’s phone number.

“That’s actually kind of cute,” Octavia sighed. “Have you gone out with her?”

“A few times,” she answered, nodding.

Raven looked confused. “When have you had time to see her?”

Clarke looked down and tried to come up with a lie, but Octavia figured it out before she could figure something out. “You bitch!” she shouted. “You didn’t have to really work all those nights you said you were picking up extra shifts! You ditched me for that girl!”

Raven looked at her, silently questioning if it was true. When Clarke nodded, she and Luna erupted in laughter. Octavia didn’t find it funny at first, but she joined in once Clarke cracked a smile. “I don’t blame you,” Raven admitted.

Lincoln appeared from the bedroom just as Octavia went to argue with Raven. “What’s going on out here?” he asked.

“Nothing, other than the fact that Clarke has a girlfriend and she’s been blowing me off in order to see this girl,” Octavia explained rather dramatically.

Lincoln shrugged and echoed Raven’s response. “I don’t blame her.”

Everyone but Octavia laughed. Lincoln passed behind Clarke on his way to the kitchen to find something to eat. He stopped to tousle her hair and say, “Congrats, kid.”

She slapped his hand away and fixed her hair. “She’s not my girlfriend,” she clarified.

“Yet,” Luna added. 

They teased Clarke about it until Raven remembered something. “Clarke…you said ‘we’ when you mentioned going to meet your mom’s boyfriend. This girl is meeting your mom?”

“Yeah, sometime before the wedding. I asked if she’ll be my date to the wedding and I figured my mom would want to meet her beforehand and I want to meet her boyfriend ahead of time, too,” she explained.

Octavia eyed her skeptically. “You’ve been seeing each other for two months and she’s already meeting your mom. That sounds like something girlfriends would do.”

“That’s not true,” she argued. It wasn’t, was it?

Raven agreed with Octavia. “That definitely sounds girlfriend-y.”

“It’s not that serious,” Clarke insisted.

Octavia mumbled something along the lines of “if you say so,” but didn’t push it. Clarke refused to say that it was a “thing” yet. She refused to acknowledge the fact that none of her exes met her mom until they had been together for at least six months. She refused to admit that things with Lexa might be moving along faster than she originally wanted them to. She refused to admit that she was okay with how fast they were moving.

**********

Later that night, once her friends were done harassing her and Raven dropped her off at home, Clarke found herself antsy, eerily similar to how she couldn’t sit still after the second date with Lexa. After she changed into her night clothes, she found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling. She laid there with her phone in her hands, contemplating whether she should text Lexa. She hadn’t received any texts for over an hour, but Clarke reasoned that she may either be taking care of Aden or asleep. She stared at her phone for twenty minutes before deciding to text her.

**Are you awake?**

Ten minutes after the text, Clarke was starting to think that Lexa was asleep after all. She was about to put her phone down for the night when it vibrated.

_Just put Aden to bed. What’s up?_

She wasn’t really sure what to say. She wanted to say that she was lonely, but that was a bit much. She took a chance and responded with, **Can I call you?**

Instead of a response, Clarke’s phone started ringing less than a minute after the last text. She stared at the screen for a few seconds before answering. “Hey,” she breathed,

“Hi.” She may have just been imagining it, but she swore it sounded like Lexa was smiling.

“How was your night?”

Lexa sighed and Clarke could hear the faint sound of what had to be the television with the volume turned down low. “Aden has been pretty miserable, which makes everyone around him miserable too. So, needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to him going to bed for the last several hours.” It was clear that she was exhausted. “Did you have fun with your friends?”

Clarke chuckled. “It got off to a weird start with the whole prosthetic leg thing, but then I accidentally slipped up and told them about you. You can probably guess how the rest of the night went.”

“Shit. How _did_ that go?”

“Long story short, Octavia was mad that I didn’t tell her first and Raven took it pretty well. When she dropped me off at my place, Raven said she’s happy for me and she’s excited to meet you.”

“I don’t know her yet, but I think you were right when you said that I’ll like Raven the most,” she decided. “So they are okay with me coming to the wedding?”

Clarke nodded and then remembered that Lexa couldn’t see her. “Definitely. Octavia was just upset that she has to switch the seating arrangement around again.”

“I’ll be sure to apologize when I meet her,” she joked. 

They spoke for a while about Clarke’s friends and Lexa’s sister. Lexa said that Anya wouldn’t leave her alone about walking in on their date and really wanted to talk to Clarke without Lexa there. Clarke laughed while Lexa explained how she yelled at her sister for basically dropping Aden off at the door and then just disappeared.

The longer they talked, the more obvious it became that Lexa was getting sleepy and Clarke was feeling more relaxed than before she called. Lexa’s voice was getting softer and softer. “I should let you get some sleep,” Clarke said.

“It’s okay,” she answered.

Clarke smiled and was glad this time that Lexa couldn’t see her. “You’re cute when you’re sleepy.”

“Not true,” Lexa mumbled. She sounded half asleep. 

“Oh, but it is.”

Lexa sighed, which only made it sound cuter. “You always sound cute. I like your stupid cute voice. Not fair.”

She tried to fight off a laugh. “You need to get some sleep. We can talk tomorrow, okay?”

It was faint, but Clarke heard an “Okay” from Lexa.

“Goodnight, Lexa.”

“Night, Clarke.”

Clarke stayed on the phone for a few seconds afterward. She heard a sigh and then nothing. She pictured Lexa laying there after a long day of taking care of a sick Aden and falling asleep with the phone in her hand. 

Before hanging up, Clarke whispered, “I like your stupid cute voice, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry for taking so long to get this written and posted! I just want to get this up, so I'll edit in the morning. It's a long ass chapter and very fluffy, which hopefully sort of makes up for the wait.

**Are you sure you’re okay with this?**

Lexa reread the text at least ten times. The girls finally set a plan for Lexa to meet Abby the weekend before Octavia’s wedding. The idea of meeting Clarke’s mom wasn’t too terrifying…that is, until they actually came up with the plan. The plan made her nauseous.

_I’m positive._

It was must have been pretty clear that was not in fact ready. At least, Anya seemed to notice.

“Why do you look like you’re going to puke?” she asked.

Anya had just put Aden to bed and they were settling in to watch a movie. She put her phone down on the coffee table, but it chimed again just a few seconds later. “It’s nothing,” she said, trying to ignore the blinking light on her phone.

“You sure about that?”

Lexa grimaced. “I don’t know.”

Anya quit scrolling through Netflix and looked at her sister. “Alright. Talk to me. Are you having girl problems?”

“No.” Her phone chimed yet again. “Maybe.”

“What’s going on?”

Lexa looked at her and rolled her eyes. “Anya, you don’t need to pretend to care about my ‘girl problems’ beyond mortifying me at any chance you can get. Really, it’s fine.”

“Contrary to popular belief, Lex, I actually do care. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m here if you do.”

Lexa was quiet and Anya went back to Netflix, trying to find something for them to watch. Neither of them said anything for what felt like an eternity. Finally Lexa broke.

“I’m meeting Clarke’s mom in a few weeks.”

Anya nearly choked on the hot cocoa she was sipping. She practically threw the remote down and turned her attention back to Lexa. “You’re doing _what_?”

“Meeting Clarke’s mom.”

Anya’s eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of her face. “Holy shit.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Damn. It’s that serious?”

“Not really. I don’t think so, anyway.”

“Lex, come on. You don’t meet someone’s parents two months in unless it’s serious.”

Lexa shrugged. “It’s only because I’m going to this wedding with Clarke and she doesn’t want that to be the first time I meet her.”

“Lexa.”

“What?”

“Who invites someone to a wedding and to meet their parents when you’re only two months into seeing someone?”

“Clarke, apparently.”

Anya was getting exasperated. “Lexa, when she asked you to go to the wedding, what did she say?”

Lexa huffed. “She just asked if I would go as her date.”

“Was she nervous?”

Lexa thought about it for a second. “Yeah. She was surprised that I said yes so quickly. What does that have to do with anything?”

Anya just shook her head and muttered, “Useless lesbian.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Anya grabbed the remote to start scrolling again while she chuckled to herself. “Oh, you’ll see eventually.”

Lexa narrowed her eyes. “You suck.”

As if on cue, Lexa’s phone chimed again. Anya pointed at her phone and said, “I think your not-so-serious girlfriend is trying to reach you. You might want to get that.”

Lexa ignored her sister and checked the messages from Clarke, who was apparently concerned that she had scared Lexa off by planning the meeting with her mom. She decided to be honest. _Okay, so I might be a bit scared, but you definitely haven’t scared me off._

**Promise you would tell me if you were against meeting her. Or against the wedding. Or any of this.**

Lexa rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. _I promise._

“God, you’re disgusting,” Anya said, startling Lexa. Somehow she forgot about her sister, who was sitting just a foot away from her.

“What did I do?!”

Anya looked at her like it was obvious, yet Lexa was completely clueless. “You’re smiling at your phone. It’s gross.”

“How is that gross?”

“I haven’t seen you like that since you met Costia.”

Lexa cringed. “First of all, I’m pretty sure we agreed to never say that name ever again. Second, I still don’t see why it’s gross.”

“Never mind,” she said. She then pulled out her own phone to check the time. “Besides, I don’t think we have enough time for a movie after dealing with your stubborn ass. I have to be at the airport in two hours.”

“When is Nia going to stop sending you on her business trips, by the way?”

“Probably never,” she answered. She didn’t exactly sound thrilled to be flying across the country again. This time her boss didn’t even have an emergency to tend to; she just wanted Anya to go instead. Anya wasn’t sure if that meant Nia was more trusting of her or just too lazy to do her own job. Either way, she was tired of the back and forth,

Anya went to grab her luggage and then warmed something up to eat. Lexa stayed in the living room and turned on a random movie that she wouldn’t likely pay any attention to. That was a bad habit of hers that Anya always hated when they were younger.

When Anya returned, she handed Lexa some bills. “You’re probably going to need this before I get back. I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a while,” she explained. “I’m going to head out now. I forgot to grab a few files from the office on Friday.”

“Have fun,” Lexa said.

“Yeah right. Meeting with these execs makes me want to gouge my eyes out.”

“Please come back with both of your eyes.”

She stopped for a moment. “Can I gouge out the execs’ eyes?”

“You tell me. You’re the one with the degree in law.”

“It has to look like self-defense. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

Anya left shortly after and Lexa went back to ignoring the movie she had on. She couldn’t quite get Anya’s words out of her head because she hadn’t really thought about the whole wedding thing being that big of a deal. If she had a friend who was getting married, she probably wouldn’t want to go alone either. She would have asked Clarke to go, too. Plus, it only made sense that she should meet Clarke’s mom on a more personal level, rather than at the wedding where they would be surrounded by a bunch of people Lexa didn’t know. It just made sense.

Right?

The more she thought about it…

“ _Shit_.”

**********

Later on, Lexa couldn’t slow her mind down, so she had to find something to do. What she needed was to get out of the apartment, but she couldn’t do that with Aden sound asleep in his room. She definitely wasn’t about to wake him up and have to explain that she was having an existential crisis because of a pretty blonde girl with blue eyes.

Instead of doing all of that, she was doing the dishes.

When her phone chimed from the living room, Lexa already knew what it was and momentarily wondered what she did to make the universe hate her so much. She didn’t have to see the text to know that it was from Clarke. 

**Are you up?**

There was a moment of clarity where Lexa knew she shouldn’t respond to the text – only because of her conversation with Anya. The realization that things with Clarke weren’t moving along as slowly as she thought was a bit disorientating. 

Still, she was putty in Clarke’s hands, which should have set off all the warning bells.

_Unfortunately. Everything okay?_

She took her phone into the kitchen, but she didn’t get to go back to washing dishes. Clarke’s response was too fast.

**Can’t sleep. Have you ever wondered why parents always tell you to count sheep? Sheep don’t do shit. They don’t care that I want to sleep. Sheep are selfish.**

Lexa found herself laughing, which only reminded her of Anya’s comments. She shook the thought.

_Anya always made me drink warm milk._

She didn’t bother with attempting to do the dishes. Instead, she just waited for the next text.

**I’ve been trying not to form an opinion on your sister until I actually get to know her, but the fact that she made you drink milk at any temperature makes her the worst. I don’t think I can be friends with her.**

_You have no idea._

Just seconds after sending the text, Lexa’s phone was ringing. Not surprisingly, it was Clarke.

“Hey,” Lexa said.

“Hi. I got tired of texting. Is this okay?”

Lexa chuckled. “Yeah, it’s okay.”

“Your sister really made you drink warm milk?”

“She said it’s supposed to be relaxing, but it’s actually disgusting. I still won’t drink milk. She ruined cereal for me.”

“God, that’s messed up. I really don’t think I can be friends with her.”

“You’re not missing out on much.” Lexa gave up on the idea of washing dishes and curled up on the couch instead. She told herself that she wasn’t allowed to fall asleep on the phone this time. “Did you do anything tonight?”

Clarke sighed. “No, everyone had plans. I called my mom and she was even busy. Did you do anything?”

“Nope. It was a boring Sunday here, too.”

“We live the most exciting lives,” Clarke joked.

Lexa didn’t twice – or even once, really – before throwing the question out there. She asked, “Would you like some company?”

The line went quiet and Lexa wondered if she crossed the line or if the call dropped. She went to check her phone just as Clarke spoke. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice. Do you have Aden?”

“He’s asleep. You can come here if you want. If you’re awake enough to drive–”

Clarke interrupted her. “Are you at your place?”

Lexa swore she could hear excitement in Clarke’s voice. It made her smile. “I’m at Anya’s.”

“Oh,” she said. The disappointment in her voice was evident. “Would that be weird?”

“She just left for a business trip a little bit ago,” Lexa explained. 

“She wouldn’t mind me being there?”

Lexa really didn’t care if she minded, in all honesty. “She wouldn’t care. In fact, she would probably love it if it gave her more opportunity to drive me nuts.”

Clarke laughed. “Okay, I’ll be on my way in a minute. Text me her address?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Suddenly she felt nervous. 

“Hopefully you don’t mind me being in my PJs. I’m too tired to change.”

Lexa smiled. “I don’t mind.”

“Good. I’ll be there soon.”

They hung up and Lexa sent the address. Soon after, she started panicking. She wished she hadn’t told Anya about anything earlier in the night because it had her overthinking everything. Instead of worrying about it anymore, Lexa finished the dishes she gave up on earlier and then went to change into her own pajamas.

Then all she had to do was sit and wait.

**********

There was a knock at the door after only about twenty minutes. Lexa wasn’t sure if she should be concerned for Clarke’s driving habits or flattered by Clarke’s excitement to get to Lexa faster than she should. 

Either way, she couldn’t think about it for long, because she was irritated with herself the instant she opened the door. Clarke stood there in her sweatpants and sweatshirt with her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head and she looked a thousand times more beautiful than Lexa ever would in any party gown. She was pretty sure she looked like a certifiable mess in her sweatpants and t-shirt.

“Hey,” Clarke said. 

Lexa was almost certain that Clarke caught her staring. “Hi,” she said dumbly. “Come in.”

Clarke came in and surveyed the living room. It wasn’t quite as plain as Lexa’s apartment, but the ugly painting hanging over the couch that Anya bought at a flea market years ago didn’t do a whole lot for the aesthetics of the place. No matter how many times Lexa told her that she would personally buy her more attractive décor, Anya swore up and down that it gave the apartment “character.” It was literally just a bunch of dark, ugly colors thrown onto a canvas. Aden could probably draw something more appealing.

Lexa could tell that Clarke was scrutinizing the awful artwork. “That’s been there for four years and I still can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be.”

“It’s certainly interesting,” Clarke commented. “Would she be offended if I painted her something? I’m no Picasso, but…yikes.”

Lexa laughed, “I would certainly be willing to hide this thing while she’s gone if you do. She might hate me for a while, but I think it would be worth it.”

Clarke agreed. She eventually had to tear her gaze away from it in order to focus on anything else. The painting made her inner artist itch. Though she didn’t want to cause any trouble, she felt as if she were doing the world a disservice by letting that painting stay on the wall.

Lexa hadn’t noticed the bag Clarke was carrying until she opened it up. “So, I don’t know about you, but I’m in desperate need of chocolate, so I brought us anything chocolate that I could find in my kitchen…and the stash in my bedroom. A girl can never have too much chocolate.”

“I can respect that,” Lexa answered seriously. If she were ever at her apartment, there’s a good chance she would have some hidden chocolate, too.

They sat on the couch and broke into the chocolate. “Are you sure I’m not bothering you tonight?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re totally ruining my night of watching mind-numbing Netflix documentaries,” she joked.

“Hey, I happen to like documentaries!”

“I do too. I just don’t have the attention span anymore.”

Clarke nodded. “I really don’t either. I don’t know how anyone can do anything that requires paying attention to something for more than 20 minutes at a time.”

“Says the doctor,” she scoffed.

“I’m serious! I work in the ER for a reason. I’m always on my feet, emergencies back-to-back. There’s hardly ever downtime, just the way I like it.”

“I guess that makes sense. Maybe that’s why I want to teach,” she said.

“I imagine there’s a crisis every few minutes when you’re working with kids.”

“You should have seen my internship. It was a mess,” Lexa said, cringing at the thought. “Once there was a kid who tried to staple his hand to the wall. I think the teacher that I was sitting in on probably went straight to the bar after the kids left that day.”

Clarke shuddered. “God, kids are ridiculous. I don’t know how you could spend a whole day around them, especially five days a week.”

“Kids are adorable.”

“Even the ones who try to staple their hand to a wall? Besides, how did you manage that? I can only imagine, considering your aversion to even just few drops of blood.”

Lexa pouted. “I’m not _that_ bad.” Clarke gave her a look and Lexa sighed. “Okay, I may be bad, but I handle those kinds of emergencies better when I’m not the one that’s hurt.”

“Lexa, do you remember when I was trying to chop up olives and cut my finger open a few weeks ago?”

“Yes, and I almost fainted,” she answered. 

Clarke laughed and grabbed another piece of chocolate. “You’re cute when you pout,” she said, popping the chocolate into her mouth.

“I’m not pouting and it’s definitely not cute!”

“You’re definitely pouting and it’s definitely cute,” she teased. She couldn’t stop herself from giggling like a little kid. “It’s almost as cute as when you passed out while we were on the phone the other night.”

Lexa rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what I said, but that probably wasn’t cute either.”

“Too bad you don’t remember,” she said wistfully. 

She could only imagine what she had said. It certainly wasn’t the first time someone mentioned Lexa saying something she had no recollection of ever saying. In fact, Lexa told Costia that she loved her while half asleep and didn’t remember it in the morning. At least she knew that whatever she said to Clarke wasn’t that serious. Clarke definitely wouldn’t call that cute.

“Do I even want to know?”

“I’m not sure.”

Lexa glared at her. “That’s all you’re giving me?”

She went quiet for half a second. “Tell me something first.”

That caught her off guard. “Okay…”

“What about meeting my mom scares you?” she asked, suddenly sounding serious.

“Oh.” That wasn’t exactly what she was expecting. She wasn’t sure how to answer that because she didn’t really have an answer. Vagueness seemed to be the best way to go. “A lot of things scare me.”

“Like what?”

She made a mental note to not be vague ever again. “Just things in general, I guess.”

“Things about us?”

She didn’t know how to get out of this without making it worse. She was terrified of meeting Clarke’s mom, but she couldn’t explain that it was because her sister had made her start questioning everything.

Clarke didn’t wait for an answer. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do any of this. I don’t want you to think that meeting my mom or going to the wedding with me is a requirement. I would never want to put pressure on you if you’re not comfortable with something.”

Lexa shook her head. “No, I don’t feel pressured. It’s just a lot to take in.”

Clarke scooted over toward Lexa and rested her head on her shoulder. She grabbed Lexa’s hand and intertwined their fingers, something Lexa had noticed was a habit of Clarke’s. “What can I do to make it easier?”

“I’m not really sure,” she said honestly. 

“Well, if it helps any, my mom is probably the least intimidating person in my life.”

She thought it was a good sign, but then remembered what she’d been told about Clarke’s best friends and reconsidered. Still, she did have one question. “She won’t be weirded out by this?” she asked.

Clarke sat up to look at her. “What would she be weirded out by?”

“I’m not a guy?” 

Clarke laughed. “Oh, no. It may have been a shocker in high school, but certainly not now.”

Lexa nodded, mostly to herself. One less thing to worry about.

“I never asked – was your sister weirded out?”

“When you were at my apartment?” she asked. Clarke nodded and then Lexa was laughing. 

“What’s so funny?”

Lexa laughed harder and Clarke only grew more curious. “Let’s just say that finding another woman in my apartment is the least shocking thing she could have walked in on.”

“Now I’m very intrigued,” Clarke mused. She sat up so she could see her, giving Lexa her full attention.

“Well, in seventh grade, Anya walked in on my biology lab partner and I making out. The fact that my lab partner was homecoming queen was more surprising than the fact that she was a girl,” she explained. 

Clarke looked genuinely shocked. “Damn, homecoming queen? That’s impressive.”

“It didn’t last long.”

“That’s still impressive. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations?”

The look Lexa gave her had Clarke laughing again. “Absolutely.”

“And why is that?”

Clarke shrugged. “Isn’t that…a thing?”

“What’s a ‘thing?’”

“You know, the stereotypical ‘gay-girl-longs-after-the-most-impossible-girl-in-the-school’ thing, except you actually got that girl. That’s why it’s impressive.”

“I had the girl for less than a month,” she countered.

Clarke shrugged again. “You were still out there living the stereotypes.”

“Unfortunately.”

Clarke scoffed, but let it go. She cringed when she pulled her phone out to look at the time. If it were a work night, she would be screwed. “I should be a lot more tired than I am,” she said.

“I take it that you don’t sleep much either.”

“Nope. Even when I can barely keep my eyes open, my brain seems to think that sleeping is overrated.”

“Maybe it is,” Lexa sighed. She was taken for surprise when Clarke shifted to lay down and rest her head on her lap. Though surprised, she was starting to get used to Clarke’s…affections.

Once she was comfortable, she looked up at Lexa. “Since sleep seems to be escaping us this evening, tell me about yourself, Lexa Woods.”

“What?” She wasn’t in the least bit a fan of talking about herself.

Clarke actually looked serious and that scared Lexa even more. “Well, I’m always talking about my problems and the story about your affair with the homecoming queen is pretty much all I know about your life from before Aden was born. Tell me about you.”

“My _affair_?” she mocked. “That’s probably the least scandalous thing that I’ve ever done.”

Clarke’s face lit up and Lexa instantly knew that she chose the wrong words. “Hold on. I feel like that was pretty scandalous. Now you’re telling me that you have done things even more interesting. Go on.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call my life scandalous.”

“You just did!”

Lexa sighed. “What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about high school.”

“That’s too broad of a topic.”

Clarke rolled her eyes. Getting Lexa to talk about herself was harder than pulling teeth, she thought. “What’s your most _scandalous_ story from high school?”

As much as she hated to admit it, there were a few too many to pick from. She went to tell Clarke to be more specific, but she was cut off.

“You’re impossible. Were you out in high school?”

That was a perfect place to start, for Clarke’s sake. “Not until sophomore year.”

“How was that?”

“It probably would have been better if the whole coming out thing went…smoother than it did.”

Clarke cocked an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“God,” Lexa moaned. She didn’t need a mirror to know her face was bright red. The story of her high school coming out was a never-ending nightmare, regardless of the fact that she hadn’t spoken to anyone from high school since the day of graduation, which she only went to because Anya forced her to. “I got caught in the locker room with my school’s star softball player.”

“Are you serious?” she asked. After getting an embarrassed nod from Lexa, Clarke burst into laughter. “Softball? Really?”

Lexa was mortified. “I know, that was also stereotypical. At least I had quit playing softball by then.”

“You used to play it too?!”

“Yeah, until I broke my leg and decided to call it quits.”

Clarke was practically hysterical. “Did that happen while you were playing?”

“Something like that.”

“What does that mean?” she asked through her laughter. Her eyes were starting water.

“I…got distracted.”

“How could you have possibly gotten so distracted that you broke your leg?”

Lexa braced herself. “It was the girl. The one I got caught with.”

“What?!” she could barely breathe.

Lexa huffed and started, “Well, I’ll start by saying that I was only picked for the team because they were short a player. I was not able to hit a ball whatsoever, so she offered to help me after school and between practices. I started liking her at some point during all of that.

“After a few weeks of her working with me, I somehow actually hit the ball. I caught a glimpse of her cheering and yelling for me as I ran for first base. I must have tripped over my own feet as I dove for the base because I managed to land wrong and snapped my femur.”

By the time she was done explaining, Clarke was laughing so hard that Lexa was worried it would wake Aden up. However, as she told the story, she realized how ridiculous it all sounded. It was still mortifying, but at least she could finally start laughing about it.

“Lexa, that has got to be the gayest thing I’ve ever heard,” she cackled. “Did she at least go with you to the hospital?”

“She had to stay for the rest of the game, but she came up to visit me later that night. She also kissed me just as my sister walked in, which was almost as embarrassing as having to tell her that I broke my leg because I was too busy staring at a pretty girl.”

Clarke tried to compose herself, though she was failing at it. “I would have died of embarrassment.”

“I almost did.”

“So what happened after that? Were you guys together?”

“Yes and no,” she said. “We snuck around here and there. I think it went on for a month or two and then I had to go and get myself suspended over her. We wouldn’t even look at each other after that.”

Clarke was just about composed by then. “Wait, why did you get suspended? Because of the locker room thing?”

“Yes,” she said soberly. It certainly wasn’t her finest moment.

“Why would you get suspended for kissing?”

She went flush. “Um…”

“What?”

Lexa’s silence said a lot.

“No.”

She didn’t have to ask. “Yes.”

“Lexa, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

She finally let out the breath that she didn’t realize she was holding. “That’s probably what the gym teacher thought when she found me with my hand down the girl’s pants.”

“ _Oh my god!_ ”

Lexa had to laugh with her because her stupidity back in the day was outrageous. She was about to say more, but a small voice startled both women.

“Mama?”

Lexa jumped. “Aden?”

He appeared from the hallway, rubbing his eyes as he walked. “Is mama here?”

“No, she left earlier. It’s really late.”

He still looked like he was half asleep, which he probably was. “I thought I heard her…”

“Oh, no. Clarke is here.”

At the mention of her name, she sat up and waved. “Hi sweetie.”

Aden looked between Lexa and Clarke a few times. He was clearly confused. 

“Is everything okay?” Lexa asked.

“Bad dream,” he said. He walked over to Lexa’s open arms and cuddled her.

She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his head. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head. “I’m tired.”

Both girls chuckled to themselves. “That’s okay. Why don’t I take you to bed and tuck you in really tight so the bad dreams can’t get to you?”

He simply nodded. Lexa scooped him up and carried him to his room. His eyelids were heavy by the time she had him tucked in and was snoring when she kissed his forehead. She whispered an “I love you” before returning to the living room.

She stood in front of Clarke and took in her sleepy look. “Tired?”

“Just now, all of a sudden,” she said through a yawn.

Lexa smiled. “It’s almost four in the morning and you look like you’re about to pass out, so there’s no way I’m letting you drive home. I’ll get you a pillow and blanket.”

Clarke didn’t protest. Lexa came back from Anya’s hallway closet with the two things and set the pillow at one end of the couch. Clarke looked up with drooping eyes. “Where will you sleep?” she asked.

“I’ll hog Anya’s bed for a night.”

Clarke shook her head seriously. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. She patted the area next to her. “Come be my big spoon.”

For a split second, she almost listened, but then she thought better of it. She didn’t want to make things weird. “That’s okay. I can go in the other room.”

“Nonsense. Come here.”

“Really, it’s okay–”

“Please?”

What was ridiculous was how Lexa felt like she was going to melt with the way Clarke was looking at her. She had to oblige. She didn’t trust her voice, so she just nodded. Clarke moved over so Lexa could lay down. As soon as she was on her side, Clarke grabbed the blanket and laid down with her back to Lexa’s chest. 

Clarke was nearly settled in when she perked up. “Wait,” she said. Lexa hadn’t moved, so she assumed Clarke was talking to herself. Clarke maneuvered far enough away so she could roll onto her back. She reached up to put a hand on Lexa’s cheek to pull her down and gently kiss her. When she pulled away, she whispered, “There. Goodnight, Lex.”

As Clarke rolled back over and scooted in closer, Lexa tried to remember how to breathe. She was still pretty breathless when she whispered a “goodnight” back. Before drifting off to sleep, Clarke sought out Lexa’s hand. When she found it, she pulled it around so she was holding Clarke. There was a content sigh and then she was asleep.

A few moments later, Lexa realized that Clarke never revealed what Lexa had said to her while half asleep on the phone. She made a mental note to ask about it after getting some sleep.

She also made a note to no longer worry about whether her sister thought she and Clarke were moving too fast.

That didn't matter to her anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke is up to no good and Aden is the #1 Clexa fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been almost three months...better late than never, right? The good news is that I have the next chapter completely outlined, so hopefully it won't take that long for me to write and post it.

Clarke slowly woke up, sighing quietly as she stretched. For a split second, she thought she was dreaming – the arm around her waist felt real, but it was something she hadn’t woken up to in months. Before opening her eyes, she smiled to herself and snuggled her pillow closer. She wasn’t ready to be awake yet.

“Good morning,” a voice whispered from behind her. 

She wiggled closer to Lexa, who pulled her in even closer for the warmth. “Morning,” she whispered back.

Thankfully, Lexa wasn’t one to have a full-fledged conversation seconds after waking up. Clarke had almost ended more than one relationship because some people wouldn’t give her time to wake up before talking to her. She needed at least five minutes to wake up before being spoken to and Lexa thankfully caught on to that quite quickly.

“You’re so warm,” Clarke mumbled once she was more awake.

Lexa’s face was burrowed in the crook of Clarke’s neck. Even with Clarke’s messy hair itching her face, she had no desire to move. “You’re so comfy.”

Clarke chuckled and found Lexa’s hand under their blanket, locking her fingers with Lexa’s. She pulled their hands up and kissed the back of Lexa’s hand. 

Lexa was quiet and Clarke started to wonder if she had fallen back asleep. She stayed still, careful not to stir in case she actually had dozed off. After a few peaceful moments, though, Lexa sighed. “I don’t want to ever get up,” she half-whined.

“I think I know of a little boy who would be upset if we don’t get up,” she joked, although she was also perfectly content. Clarke carefully rolled onto her back, reluctantly letting go of Lexa’s hand, and smiled at the brunette, whose eyes looked exhausted. “You’re cute when you’re sleepy,” Clarke said. 

“You’re always cute.”

She laughed, deciding not to argue with her just for the sake of her sanity. Instead, she rolled onto her side and brushed the hair out of Lexa’s face. She was thanked with a soft smile. 

“Thanks for letting me stay last night,” she said.

“You were a terrible houseguest,” Lexa joked. She broke out into laughter when Clarke playfully smacked her arm.

“You’re rude,” Clarke said, even though she was smiling.

“The rudest,” she agreed.

Clarke was just about to say something when a voice startled both of them. “Mom?”

Clarke shot up as if she had been caught in the act of something bad and Lexa would never admit it, but she had forgotten all about her nephew. “Hey, kid. Your mom left last night. How did you sleep?” Lexa asked.

He still looked like he was half asleep, though he was obviously confused as to why Clarke was there. “Lex, are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick,” she laughed. She wondered if he would ever associate Clarke with being anything but a doctor. 

Although he was still looking confused, he let it go and changed the subject. “What’s for breakfast?” he asked.

“Let’s ask the terrible houseguest,” she said. She looked at Clarke, who was blushing and looking uncomfortable. “What do you want for breakfast?”

She shrugged. “Whatever he wants.”

“I want waffles,” Aden said.

“I don’t think we have any syrup.”

Looking utterly disappointed, he whined, “Can we go to the store and get some?”

Lexa thought about it and decided that going to the grocery store didn’t sound appealing in any way. She had a better idea. “How about we just go out to breakfast?”

“Really?!” he shouted, suddenly wide awake.

She nodded. “Go get dressed and brush your teeth.”

Aden ran off with his sudden burst of energy and Lexa laughed when she heard his door slam shut. She sat up and saw that Clarke was still blushing. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“He’s going to tell on me!” she said in a whisper, as if he would hear her from the other side of the apartment.

Lexa scoffed. “Tell on you for what? Who’s he going to tell?”

“For being here!” Clarke was looking at her if it were obvious. “He’s going to tell your sister!”

“You’re not doing anything wrong by being here, Clarke.”

“She’s going to hate me.”

Lexa grabbed her hand and waited until Clarke would look at her. “You’re not going to be in trouble and my sister is not going to hate you.”

“How do you know that?”

“You’re not doing anything wrong,” she repeated. “She has no reason to hate you.”

“If you say so,” she mumbled. 

When Clarke didn’t look any more at ease, Lexa sighed. “You really think she would hate you?”

“I don’t know.”

“I promise she wouldn’t. Even if she did, it wouldn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

Lexa wasn’t expecting that – the confession or how seriously she said it – and it really threw her for a loop. “What?”

Clarke looked at her like it was obvious again. “Her opinion matters, Clarke.”

“Why?” she asked, genuinely confused. 

“Lexa, she’s the only family you have that I know of. Aren’t you afraid of what my mom is going to think of you? Or my friends?” 

“Yes,” she answered, fully reminded of her upcoming meet-and-greet with Abby.

“Okay then. Of course your sister’s opinion matters.”

Lexa smiled. “I think she likes you so far.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” she laughed. She didn’t get why that would be so surprising. “I’m going to go get dressed before the kid gets back and throws a fit because I’m not ready.”

Clarke watched as Lexa got up. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay that you’re here, Clarke.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean about going to breakfast.”

“Do you want to go?” Clarke couldn’t help but notice the slight worried tone in Lexa’s voice at the thought of her not going.

“As long as we can stop by my apartment for clean clothes.”

“I think we can manage that,” she said. “You’re still a terrible houseguest, though.”

After that, she disappeared to go get dressed, leaving Clarke in the living room, laughing to herself.

**********

Less than an hour later, the three were pulling up to a local breakfast diner near Clarke’s apartment. In fact, it was the restaurant she went to after dropping Lexa off at her place following her drunken mishap that led her to waking up hungover and confused in Clarke’s bed the next morning. Clarke made sure to let Lexa know that and watched as she cringed while thinking about it.

Half way through breakfast, Aden started eyeing Clarke while sipping his chocolate milk. “Do you like being a doctor?” he finally asked.

“I do,” she said 

“Do you do surgery?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not smart enough for that.”

“I think you are,” he said. 

“Thank you,” she laughed. “Maybe you can be a surgeon one day.”

He considered it for a second as he took a bite of his food. He previously wanted to be a teacher because of Lexa. “I think I can be a surgeon,” he decided. “I want to fix people.”

“That’s a good idea,” Lexa chimed in. “You’ll make a good surgeon.”

He agreed and then asked Lexa, “Can I practice on you?”

Both women laughed at that. “Maybe once you go to school and if I need surgery.”

“I think you should practice on her right now,” Clarke joked.

Aden grinned. “I don’t think I’m ready.”

“Good,” Lexa said. “Now finish your breakfast and maybe we’ll go to the park.”

His face lit up with excitement. She’d never seen him scarf down his food so fast after that.

**********

As Clarke and Lexa walked side-by-side to the playground with Aden just a few feet in front of them, he yelled at them to watch as he climbed the small ladder to the top of the slide. It was a small playground, but he was at the age where he was too big for the jungle gym made for little kids and too small for the one made for bigger kids. Although he was small for his age, he had trouble maneuvering the playground. That certainly didn’t stop him from trying, though.

“He could spend all day here if we let him,” Lexa said. She and Aden spent the majority of their summer at one park or another; even when they went out to run specific errands, Aden would manage to con Lexa into taking him to the park.

Clarke was watching Aden climb to get to the slides. As she watched him gracefully make his way up the ladder despite his small frame, she had to note the stark difference between him and his aunt. Lexa eyed her suspiciously when she started laughing to herself.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

Clarke shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe.”

“You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?” Clarke continued to laugh beside her and didn’t answer the question. Lexa refused to take the bait. Instead, she watched Aden go down the slide and then climb right back up the ladder to go at it again. She had to try so hard to ignore Clarke’s laughter next to her.

Eventually she gave up. “Are you seriously not going to tell me what you find so hilarious?”

“Fine,” Clarke conceded, “but first you have to promise that you’re not going to hate me.”

“I will never make that promise,” she said, mostly joking.

“I guess it was nice knowing you,” Clarke sighed. She was still watching Aden, but she could feel Lexa’s glare burning into the side of her head. “Okay, so as I watch Aden go up that ladder and down the slide without any mishaps, I find it funny that you two are related because I’m trying to guess how many bones you, a grown adult, would have broken doing the exact same thing he’s doing.”

She finally looked over at Lexa, who was looking at her in utter confusion.

“And, in my professional opinion, my estimate is all of them. You would have broken every single bone in your body.”

Lexa opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to figure out what to say. She finally settled on, “That was certainly rude.”

Clarke was laughing all over again, which earned her a second slap on the arm. “I asked you not to hate me for a reason!” she shouted.

“I’d like to see you do that without getting hurt! It’s for little kids!” she said, trying to defend herself.

Clarke looked at her skeptically. “That sounded like a challenge.”

“That was anything but a challenge,” Lexa said. She rolled her eyes and was unsuccessful in not smiling.

“Oh, that was definitely a challenge,” Clarke said. Suddenly she was standing and unzipping her jacket. She took it off and handed it to Lexa. She had a look of determination in her eyes that was slightly frightening. “Woods, I know you haven’t met any of my friends or family yet, but every single person I know will tell you that I am not one to step down from a challenge and I certainly don’t intend on changing that today.”

Lexa watched in horror as Clarke confidently walked over to the playground. She looked around to make sure there weren’t going to be many witnesses and, thankfully, the park was fairly bare. She spotted a mom or two with toddlers that might have to endure what was about to happen, but that was better than her past few challenges she’d taken on. 

Aden even stopped when he noticed Clarke approaching. “Uh, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Going down the slide,” she said nonchalantly. “Want to come with?”

He nodded enthusiastically, excited to have a playmate.

“Don’t drag him into this!” she yelled. She finally stood and approached Clarke, who was grinning ear to ear. “Are you serious right now?”

“I’m afraid I am,” she responded. “And since you brought about this challenge, I believe you owe Aden and I ice cream if I successfully make it down this slide with no injuries.”

Aden, who had no idea what was going on, of course agreed with Clarke. He would do just about anything for ice cream.

“I’ll buy you ice cream without all of this ridiculousness,” Lexa pleaded. She was honestly more afraid of getting embarrassed being the woman with the grown adult trying to prove a point by climbing a children’s jungle gym, not necessarily the prospect of Clarke getting hurt. Clarke would be the one with the hurt ego, not her.

Clarke shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t back out now.”

Lexa refused to watch.

**********

“Aden, do you think I should get chocolate or vanilla ice cream?” Clarke asked. She had been dragging out her decision making for a solid ten minutes and Lexa was fully aware that it was just to further rub in her victory.

Aden seriously thought about it. “Can’t you get both?” he proposed.

Clarke lit up and turned to Lexa. “Your nephew is a genius.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Lexa said. It wasn’t the first time she had called her that since they left the park.

Once they sat down to eat, Aden was rambling to Clarke about some movie he’d watched with Anya a few days prior. Although Lexa was beyond embarrassed from watching Clarke act like a child, she did enjoy how much Clarke and Aden bonded afterward. She lost count of how many times Aden begged Clarke to go down the slide with him and she willingly did every single time. She even looked like she was having fun with him, which Lexa found surprising to say the least.

“Lexa, why wouldn’t you go down the slide with us?” Aden asked with a mouthful of ice cream.

She went to answer, but Clarke interrupted. “Because she’s a chicken.”

Lexa scoffed. “That’s not true!”

“I think she’s a chicken,” Aden agreed.

“I can’t take you two anywhere,” Lexa mumbled.

Clarke and Aden went back and forth, taking turns making fun of Lexa as they finished their ice cream. They were still bantering when Clarke noticed an older woman at the table next to them watching and smiling as she collected her things to leave. Lexa noticed and smiled at the woman.

The woman motioned toward Aden and said, “You two have the sweetest son.”

Lexa and Clarke exchanged awkward eye contact. Neither knew what to say; Lexa was used to being mistaken for Aden’s mom, but that wasn’t nearly as mortifying as this. They were both left speechless. Lexa didn’t know whether to correct her or just go with it to end the conversation sooner. Unfortunately for them, Aden was the one to answer.

“Oh, they aren’t my moms,” he informed her. He pointed to Lexa and said, “That’s my aunt. She’s a lesbean, but she’s not my mom.”

The woman’s eyes grew wide. She went to respond several times, but couldn’t come up with anything. Eventually she decided to go with an apology. “You have a beautiful nephew,” she told Lexa before walking away.

Lexa was too embarrassed to respond, so she just watched the woman leave. Clarke was trying not to laugh, but failed miserably. Aden looked back and forth between the two women, unsure of what happened and how he was supposed to respond. 

“That was awkward,” Lexa finally said. 

Aden was confused. “What’s wrong? You’re not a lesbean anymore?” he questioned. He sounded genuinely concerned.

Lexa was still a bright shade of red. “It’s lesbian, Aden. And yes, I’m still a lesbian.”

“Then what’s wrong?” he asked again. When Lexa just shook her head in disbelief, he turned to Clarke. “Wait, are you a lesbean too?”

“No…” she started and then looked at Lexa for help. 

Lexa just sighed. “We always seem to have this conversation in ice cream shops,” she told Clarke. At least when Lexa had to explain being gay to Aden the last time, he hadn’t brought random strangers into the conversation. Today she couldn’t be so lucky, apparently.

Aden was still hung up on his last question. “You like Lexa, but you’re not a lesbean?” he asked.

Clarke was at a loss for words. The couple at the table next to them had listened in on the conversation and Clarke couldn’t tell if they were amused or annoyed. She was flustered and Lexa looked mortified.

“Aden, we’ll talk about it at home,” Lexa quickly said. “And it’s lesbian.”

“Lesbian,” he repeated. 

Lexa nodded, hoping that would be the end of the conversation for the time being. Thankfully, he went back to his ice cream and let it go. Once they finally were ready to leave, she thought she was in the clear until they were home. Unfortunately, Clarke had other plans.

Aden was already half way out the door, but he still heard Clarke when she grabbed Lexa’s hand and mockingly said, “Let’s go, lesbean.”

Lexa rolled her eyes, despite Clarke thinking she was funny.

“Wait,” Aden said as he held the door open. “I thought it was lesbian.”

Clarke was laughing again as Lexa glared at her. “Sorry,” Clarke said.

“This lesbian needs a drink,” Lexa mumbled.

**********

Clarke dropped Lexa and Aden off after their ice cream trip. At first they were driving around and trying to figure out what to do next, but then Aden starting dozing off in the backseat. They decided to call it a day and go their separate ways so Aden could take a nap.

Once they got home, though, Aden found his second wind of energy. Lexa convinced him to settle down on the couch for a movie in hopes of him falling back asleep. Half way through, that wasn’t looking to be likely. In fact, Aden was losing interest in the movie.

“Is Clarke gay?” he asked out of nowhere. Apparently his brain hadn’t quite dropped the subject. 

Lexa was okay with that since they were no longer in public. “She likes boys and girls,” she explained.

“So she’s not a lesbian?”

“No, lesbians just like girls. Clarke is bisexual.”

He was quiet as he took it all in. “So you’re a lesbian because you like girls and Clarke is bisexual because she likes boys and girls,” he said. 

“Exactly.”

Aden got quiet again and Lexa could tell he was trying to come up with another question. She was right.

“Is ‘lesbian’ a bad word?” he asked.

Lexa shook her head. “No, it’s a good word.”

“Then why did you get embarrassed when I told the lady that you’re a lesbian?”

She wasn’t quite sure how to answer that one. “Well, some people don’t like people who are like me and Clarke. ‘Lesbian’ is a good word, but sometimes it’s scary to say to strangers because you don’t know if they are going to get mad or not.”

“People get mad at you for being a lesbian?” he asked. 

“Sometimes,” she said. “Some people think it’s bad for girls to like girls or boys to like boys.”

Lexa could almost see the wheels in his brain turning. “I don’t think it’s bad,” he decided. 

“That’s good,” she said, smiling. She was surprised at how easy it was to explain to Aden and wished everyone would be so understanding. 

Suddenly Aden scooted over and threw his arms around Lexa. She hugged him back, despite the hug taking her off guard. When he pulled back, he kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t think strangers should hate you for liking girls,” he said.

“Thank you,” she whispered, fighting back the tears he brought to her eyes. She was a sap. “I don’t think strangers should hate you for whoever you end up liking, either.”

He nodded in agreement and then asked for something to drink. When he settled in at the dining room table with a glass of orange juice, Aden got his look of curiousity back. Lexa thought all of the awkward questions out of the way, but Aden was always full of surprises. 

“Lexa?”

“Yes?” she said, taking a sip of her own juice.

“Are you going to marry Clarke?”

Lexa nearly choked on her drink. “Um, I think it’s a little soon to be talking about marriage,” she said.

“Okay,” he replied. “I think you should marry her, though.”

She gave him a sarcastic thumbs up. “Duly noted, kid.”

**********

Long after Aden was settled into bed for the night, Lexa was situated on the couch and ready to go to sleep. She had a long day and had been looking forward to going to bed since the minute they got home. Of course, just as she was about to drift off to sleep, her phone buzzed. She was more than disappointed to see that it was her sister, not Clarke.

**_How is it going over there?_ **

Her disappointment nearly made her ignore the text, but she figured it wouldn’t really be fair.

_Not bad. How is business going?_

**_Boring as hell. Can’t wait to come home. What did you guys do today?_ **

_We went to breakfast, the park, and then got ice cream._

She was going to leave out the other minor detail, but…

_Clarke spent most of the day with us._

Her phone went silent for several minutes – it was later for Anya after all, so she could have fallen asleep. That was probably wishful thinking, though. 

She was certainly hoping for more than a one-word text.

**_Oh?_ **

She didn’t know what to do with that response. After starting a reply and deleting it about ten times, she remembered the picture she had secretly snapped of Clarke and Aden at the park. It was one of the first of many times they went down the slide together. Both were mid-laugh and smiling at the top of the slide, just before Clarke took Aden by surprise by giving him a push that sent him down the slide. 

_He asked if I plan on marrying her, so I guess he gives me his blessing_ , she typed before attaching the picture and quickly hitting send.

**_Cute._ **

If her sister didn’t stop with the one-word replies, Lexa was going to – 

**_I guess I give you my blessing too._ **

She had to read the text a few times to make sure she read it correctly. She was basically beyond caring what her sister thought of her decisions, but she had to face it – her sister and nephew were the only people she had left in her life. She didn’t have parents who had to give approval before making a relationship official. With all of that in mind, there was still a part of Lexa that needed someone to tell her that they’re happy if she’s happy. Her tiny family’s approval meant more than she wanted it to.

_Thank you._

She assumed that would be the end of the conversation, but she was wrong.

**_I know I barely know her and I still approve because you seem happier, just promise me that you aren’t actually about to marry her. In lesbian years you guys are probably living together and adopting 50 cats, but please don’t get hitched yet._ **

Lexa rolled her eyes because of course Anya couldn’t make a serious conversation last more than a few minutes before cracking a joke.

_Marriage isn’t even on my radar right now, Anya._

**_Good._ **

Once again, she settled back into the comfort of her bed and willed sleep to take over her body. She had a busy day that started way too early and all she wanted was a few hours of solid sleep. She was about to get her wish when her phone chimed one more time.

**_I really do like her, though. I know you’re happy and that’s all that matters to me._ **

Before Anya got another chance to ruin the moment, Lexa just smiled after reading the text and then put her phone on silent. Still, she found herself staring at the ceiling and for once, her inability to sleep wasn’t due to her insomniac tendencies. This time, the soaring in her chest and excitement for the future was what kept her awake. That was an unusual feeling for her.

Though she wasn’t a fan of change, this was one Lexa could handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke has a particularly awful day at work and unexpectedly shows up at Lexa's apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't quite get this posted as fast as I wanted to, but that's okay! It ended up being emotionally taxing to write, which you will probably understand after reading. I've had this chapter in mind for a while, so I'm glad I finally get to share it with you.
> 
> ***Trigger warnings: This chapter is extremely heavy. There is a lot of talk about death, a bit about suicide/suicidal thoughts, and a brief mention of abuse. Definitely be careful if any of those are issues for you.***

She spent every year of medical school praying she would never have to hear the obnoxious noise once she actually became a doctor. It’s the sound haunted her in her nightmares for weeks after losing her first patient. It’s the sound indicating that her patient’s heart had stopped beating.

Right now, it was the only thing Clarke could hear.

The nurses had already stopped working on the patient. Everyone’s hands – including Clarke’s – were covered in the patient’s blood. She had a feeling from the second she saw him that his chances of survival were quite slim. There was too much blood loss and other injuries for him to survive it.

“Clarke, there’s nothing left for us to do,” Emori said. Her voice sounded like she was under water; everything was muffled. “You have to call it.”

She blinked a few times to bring herself back to the job at hand. She had to physically shake her head to clear out the fogginess from her mind. She had a job to do and she couldn’t do it if she was stuck in her own head.

Clarke glanced up at the clock on the wall above the hospital bed. “Time of death: 3:07pm.”

Her own voice sounded so far away that she almost doubted whether it was her that had spoken. She wouldn’t have known the difference.

Clarke was usually one of the doctors who would stay behind and help out the nurses, but she needed to get out of that room. She blindly peeled off her blood-covered gloves and discarded them into the trash can. She went to bolt out of the room, but there were two people standing in the doorway – one girl around three who looked completely oblivious, and then a teenager who had tears streaming down her face. Neither girl uttered a single word.

She had to get out. She muttered a quiet “excuse me” and then shoved past the girls. She didn’t stop when she got to the main area, either. She wordlessly went to her desk, grabbed her car keys from the bottom drawer, and bolted. She barely heard the voices shouting her name from behind her. She was on autopilot and simply went wherever her feet took her.

She had no idea where she was going, but she got in her car and started driving.

**********

Lexa was in a deep sleep when she thought she heard a banging noise coming from another room in her apartment. In her sleepy state, she thought it was a dream. She only stirred when she noticed the noise getting louder and louder. She rubbed her eyes and finally realized that someone was knocking on her door.

Lazily, she climbed out of bed and slowly went to her living room. She was going to be pissed if it was her neighbor asking for sugar again or – 

“Clarke?”

The blonde was the last person she expected to see, especially since Lexa knew she was supposed to be at work. She quickly wondered if she had really dozed off long enough for her to be off work, but she also knew that Clarke had plans to go out with her friends after work.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know where to go and–”

Suddenly Lexa took in Clarke’s appearance and realized something was really off. Her eyes were swollen and red, as if she had been crying. In fact, once Lexa spoke, Clarke started crying again. “Clarke, what’s wrong?” she asked, clearly alarmed.

“I drove by your sister’s apartment and your car wasn’t there, so I think I drove here and I just…”

Lexa could barely understand what she was saying because of her crying. Well, it was more like hysterical sobbing.

“Hey, come in,” she said. She opened the door wider for Clarke to pass her. As she walked by, Lexa noticed Clarke was wearing her white coat from work and it had blood on it. “Wait, are you hurt? What’s going on?”

Clarke looked down at her coat, her eyes went wide, and she began sobbing even harder. Her body was shaking as Lexa pulled the coat away from her body to see where she was bleeding from, but she only grew more confused when she couldn’t find the source.

“It’s not my blood,” she choked out. She quickly pulled the coat off and had no idea what to do with it. Thankfully Lexa grabbed it by a spot without blood and set it on the couch carefully.

“Clarke, seriously, what happened?”

“I was at work,” she cried, even though that was already pretty obvious. “I was at work and–”

Another sob came out before she could explain. Through her tears she could see that Lexa was beyond confused and distraught because she didn’t know what to do. Every time she went to explain, she would get the mental image of the man lying lifeless on the bed as she stood over him trying to figure out what to do to save him. That image brought on a wave of nausea that made Clarke thankful for the rush of patients just before she was supposed to go on her lunch break.

“Here, sit down and try to breathe,” Lexa said. She sat down on the couch, patted the space next to her, and waited until Clarke complied. 

She sat down, but the breathing part was easier said than done. She tried to focus on the deep breathing techniques she was taught years ago, with no success. Lexa sat patiently beside her, waiting for answers that Clarke couldn’t provide. She knew she couldn’t string enough coherent words together, so she didn’t even try. Still, her breathing was ragged and labored. It still felt she was being held underwater. She could hear Lexa trying to talk to her, though she couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying.

Lexa was beginning to panic on Clarke’s behalf. All she could do was try to calm her down, although it seemed to be useless. 

Eventually Clarke was able to slow her breathing enough to choke out a few words. “My purse” was all she said.

“What?” she asked, ready to spring into action. “What about your purse?”

“Pills.”

Lexa tried to piece it together. “There are pills in your purse?”

Clarke nodded before choking on another sob.

“Okay, you want your purse,” she translated. She waited for a response, but Clarke was incoherent again. “Where is it? In your car?” 

She didn’t get a yes or no, so she just went with it. She only made it to the door before realizing that she needed Clarke’s keys.

“Clarke, where are your keys?” she asked. Clarke seemed to hear her, but she didn’t answer her. Lexa decided to go to the blood-stained coat and, sure enough, they were in the right pocket. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Lexa was afraid to leave her alone, so she practically ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building. She looked up and down the street to find Clarke’s car, which she found across the street. Lexa would have found Clarke’s parking job hilarious if she didn’t know that Clarke pretty much blindly drove to her apartment. The dangerousness of the situation took away the comedy.

She quickly unlocked the car and looked in the front seat for the bag and then switched to the backseat. She was getting frustrated until she thought to check the trunk. Once she found the purse, she rummaged through it until she located the pill bottle. 

Xanax.

She sifted through the purse once more to verify that there were no other medications. When she didn’t find anything else, she locked the car back up and took off toward the building, making it upstairs in record timing.

Clarke was still sobbing and she seemed to be staring into space. She was startled when she heard the door slam behind her.

“Is this it?” Lexa asked, holding out the bottle for her to read. It took her a few seconds to realize that Clarke’s eyes were too glassy to read the small print. “Xanax? Is that the right one?”

Clarke gave her a small nod.

“Okay, good. I’ll get you some water.”

She went to the kitchen, grabbed the first clean glass that was available, and filled it with water. She returned to the living room and handed the glass to Clarke, whose hand was shaking and almost causing the water to spill over. 

Lexa reread the pill bottle and pulled out one single pill. She handed it to Clarke and watched as she cringed at the taste before swallowing the medication. 

“Thank you,” Clarke said quietly. Her breathing was still erratic, but she was trying so hard to even it out.

Lexa nodded and sat down beside her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

No matter how hard she tried to focus her eyes on something, they would go blurry again. Focusing on breathing, stopping the tears, and making sense of what Lexa was saying was too much. Another wave of panic set in.

“It’s alright,” Lexa said as she watched Clarke start to hyperventilate. “Is it okay if I touch you?”

Clarke nodded and leaned into her when Lexa wrapped her arms around her. She clung onto Lexa’s shirt as if her life depended on it.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Just try to breathe.”

They sat there until Lexa could feel Clarke’s breathing start to even out. After five minutes of slower breathing, the sniffling stopped too. When Clarke’s grip on her shirt slowly loosened, Lexa pulled away. The first thing she noticed was the glassiness in Clarke’s eyes, but this time it wasn’t because of the tears.

“I think I need to lay down,” Clarke mumbled. 

Lexa nodded before standing up and offering a hand to Clarke, which was met with confusion. “You can lay down in my room,” she explained.

Clarke finally took her hand and let Lexa lead her to her bedroom. She was thankful for the guidance as she was still not able to focus her attention on anything for more than a few seconds at a time. She followed Lexa’s lead until she was laying down and getting tucked in.

“Stay with me?” she asked in a small voice as Lexa went to leave her alone.

Lexa had to smile; it was the most coherent thing she’d said so far. “I’m going to grab a drink and then I promise I’ll come back.”

She figured Clarke would be asleep by then, based off of the dazed look she was giving her, but she would keep her promise regardless. Clarke mumbled an “okay” before rolling over and getting comfortable.

Lexa shut the light off before going to the kitchen. She decided to grab a snack too since she had no idea how long Clarke would sleep. As she ate an apple, she heard what sounded like a phone vibrating. She went to the living room and followed the sound. After spinning in circles while trying to figure out where the sound was coming around, she discovered the phone in the white coat Clarke had discarded earlier. Lexa was extra careful to avoid touching – or even seeing – the blood when fishing out the phone. 

The screen went dark just as she pulled it out. She pressed the power button and saw that there was a missed call, but she obviously didn’t know the code to get into the phone. Thankfully, it started ringing again. The screen read “Raven” and Lexa considered whether it would be an invasion of privacy to answer. Considering she had called back so quickly, she decided to answer. 

“Hello?”

“Clarke?” The voice seemed panicked.

Lexa cringed, not wanting to talk to Clarke’s best friend for the first time under awkward circumstances. “Um, this is Lexa.”

“Oh,” Raven said. That time she sounded more confused than concerned. “Is Clarke there?”

“Yeah, she showed up here–”

Raven interrupted with a sigh. “Thank god,” she said. Lexa heard her say something to someone that wasn’t her. “Is she okay?”

She wasn’t sure about that. “She’s asleep right now. She showed up at my apartment a little bit ago having an anxiety attack. All she said was that something happened at work and that was it.”

“I’m glad she’s safe. I don’t know what happened either, other than that her boss called me to say that Clarke completely freaked out and left in the middle of her shift. They tried to follow her, but she got away.”

“Does this happen often?” she asked. Though it wasn’t really her business, she figured it would be good to know.

There was a hesitation that said more than Raven’s answer. “You should probably talk to her about that.”

“Okay,” she said. 

Raven was quiet for a few seconds. “We were supposed to go out tonight. Can you let her know not to worry about coming, unless she needs us to come get her?”

“Sure,” she answered. “I’ll have her call you when she gets up if she’s feeling up to it.”

“Okay,” Raven said.

Lexa was about to say goodbye when Raven spoke again. 

“Lexa?”

“Yeah?”

“I just… Thank you for taking care of her,” she said seriously. “And we’re excited to meet you. I think she really likes you. Just don’t tell her I said that because she would probably kill me.”

Lexa was blushing and thankful that Clarke’s friend couldn’t see her. “Thank you. I’m excited to meet you guys too.”

Raven thanked her once more before they hung up. She was shocked by Raven’s candor, but she didn’t have time to sit and think about it; she had to get back to Clarke.

Much to her surprise, Clarke was still somewhat conscious when Lexa returned to her room and crawled into bed next to her. Clarke scooted closer and rested her head on Lexa’s chest. She sounded half asleep when she spoke. “Who were you talking to?”

“Raven kept calling your phone,” she explained. “She was worried about you. I told her you’re safe and you’ll get in touch with her later.”

Clarke nodded and said, “Thank you.”

Lexa smiled and kissed the top of Clarke’s head in response. Clarke sought out her hand and intertwined their fingers before snuggling in closer. She was asleep before Lexa had the chance to say anything else.

Unfortunately for Lexa, she was wide awake as Clarke slept. That gave her ample time to wonder what the hell had just happened.

**********

Hours later, Clarke began to stir, though there were several false alarms beforehand. Lexa had started to doze off a few times, just to be startled awake again. Her mind was too busy with going over the possibilities of what could have led Clarke to Lexa’s apartment in such a panic. She wouldn’t push for answers, but she was hoping Clarke would feel up to talking after waking up from her nap. Lexa was happy when she finally seemed to be waking.

“Hi,” Clarke said sleepily as she stretched. 

Lexa smiled. “Hey.”

Clarke took a few minutes to completely wake up. Eventually she noticed that it was much darker in the room compared to when she went to sleep. “What time is it?” she asked, squinting up at Lexa.

She reached into her jacket pocket for her phone. “It’s almost eight,” Lexa answered.

“Shit. I didn’t mean to sleep so long. I’m so sorry.”

Lexa shook her head. “No need to apologize. I think you needed the rest.”

“I think I did too,” she agreed.

They fell into a silence that was somewhat uncomfortable. Clarke figured Lexa would have questions, but she didn’t know where to start and Lexa was too afraid to ask. Clarke decided to go with another apology.

“I’m really sorry for just showing up like that. I should have at least called first.”

She shrugged. “I’m just glad you got here safely.”

“I definitely shouldn’t have been driving,” she admitted. “That wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Lexa twirled a strand of Clarke’s hair around her index finger. “It sounded like a lot of people were worried about you.”

“I feel pretty shitty about that too.”

Lexa was staring at the ceiling, wondering how to approach the situation. It almost came out as a whisper when she said, “I don’t know exactly what happened and you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m all ears if you do.”

“Thank you,” she said. It sounded like there was more that she wanted to say, but she stopped there. She was afraid of where her head would go if she said any more. Instead she asked, “Is it okay if I go get something to drink?”

“I can go get it if you want.”

Clarke nodded and then rolled onto her back so Lexa could get up. 

“Do you want me to grab your phone?”

She considered it and shook her head. “I don’t feel like talking to them yet.”

Lexa climbed out of bed and went out the kitchen, where she filled two glasses of water. She was going to head back to her room, but she remembered the bag of chocolates she got at the store earlier in the day. Even though she had decided the day before that she was going to start eating healthier, she grabbed the chocolates in a moment of weakness at the store. She had told herself that she was saving it for a special occasion. She quickly decided that, with the way her night was going, there wouldn’t be any more special of an occasion.

Clarke visibly perked up when she saw the candy in Lexa’s hand. “You sure know the way to a girl’s heart,” she said with the faintest of smiles, which was welcomed after the last few hours.

“That and I also have no self-control,” Lexa joked. She handed one of the glasses and the chocolate to Clarke before getting back into bed. They laid side-by-side and Clarke tore into the candy, handing the first piece to Lexa. “You know, I was so excited to become an adult so I could by my own chocolate. It turns out that being able to fund my addiction to sweets is the only good part of being an adult.”

“Being an adult fucking sucks,” Clarke said bluntly with a mouthful of chocolate.

Caught off guard, Lexa started to laugh. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“At least you plan ahead and have chocolate on hand in case of a spontaneous mental breakdown,” Clarke laughed. 

Lexa looked at her and said, “As opposed to a planned mental breakdown?”

“I try to mark them down on my calendar, but sometimes they arrive ahead of schedule.”

They laughed together and Lexa took that as a good sign…until Clarke’s giggling abruptly stopped. 

“A patient died today,” she blurted out. After realizing what she said, she looked over at Lexa and apologized. “Sorry, that came out of nowhere.”

Lexa looked at her in slight confusion. “It’s okay. I’m–”

“We worked on him for a long time. I knew when he came in that his chances weren’t great, but we tried. We really tried,” she continued. She felt the tears coming back, so she bit her lip and stared down at her hands. No matter how hard she tried to stay focused, she felt herself slowly slipping away again. 

She didn’t know what to say. She saw Clarke beginning to panic all over again, so she knew she had to say something. “Hey, it’s okay,” she started. She reached an arm out and held Clarke close once Clarke rolled back over and rested her head on Lexa’s chest. “It’s okay.”

“I freaked out,” she explained. “I’ve lost patients before, but this one…it was different. He was different.”

“What happened?” Lexa asked. She was hesitant, worried about how Clarke might react.

Clarke took a deep breath to steady herself and stay grounded. “He was in a car accident. His two kids were with him and they managed to escape without any injury. When the car hit them, he was ejected.”

Lexa shuddered. “The kids…?”

“All of us rushed in to help the guy. Normally they would stay in the waiting room or a nurse would sit with them, but we were all working on their dad. After he died, I turned around and saw that the kids were watching the whole time.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lexa said.

“The one was so young,” she continued. “Probably only four or five. She won’t remember, but her sister…”

Clarke didn’t realize she was crying again until she noticed Lexa wiping away the tears. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe.

“The sister was in her teens. She was probably the same age as me when my dad died.”

Lexa hated herself for wanting to know, but it was nearly obvious at that point. She knew the patient had to have gotten to her for a reason – it was too personal. “Clarke, what happened to your dad?” she finally asked.

“Car accident,” she said. Her voice was quiet and Lexa noticed the same look in her eyes from earlier in the night reappearing. “It was–”

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to talk about it,” she said quickly. The guilt was instant.

“I do,” she whispered. “Everyone keeps saying that I need to talk about it.”

Lexa just nodded and waited for Clarke to go on. She couldn’t push her any further. There was an ache in her own chest that couldn’t even touch what Clarke was feeling.

“It was basically the same as the guy today. I passed out right after we were hit – they said it was the adrenaline and panic. By the time I woke up, there were people everywhere. I started screaming for him, but they wouldn’t let me move in case of a neck injury,” she said. “I think they knew he wasn’t going to make it, too. The EMT said I could see him once I got to the hospital. He was already gone once the nurse got tired of hearing me screaming for him and let me go. They never let me see him.”

Lexa was at a loss for words, so she didn’t even try to respond. 

“It was probably too gruesome. We never would have let the girls today see their dad if we’d paid more attention to them. The older girl won’t ever forget that image of him,” she said. She wouldn’t be able to forget either. “I keep thinking that my dad may have looked like that. Covered in blood, broken bones, no chance of making it.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lexa repeated. 

Clarke stared at the ceiling and Lexa wanted to ask her where her head was at. She was afraid of the response and how Clarke would react. 

“Now all that older girl will remember is her dad’s body. All her good memories of him will be replaced with what she saw today. It’s going to play over and over in her mind, no matter how hard she tries to make it go away,” she said. Lexa could tell Clarke’s mind was doing just that – replaying the worst day of her life. She felt helpless watching it happen.

She was still crying, so Lexa went to grab her some tissues. Clarke gratefully accepted the tissues and tried to smile. “I promise I’ll eventually stop crying.”

“It’s okay,” she answered honestly. “I get it, at least a little bit.”

Clarke’s face fell. “God, I’ve been whining about my dad when you don’t have either of your parents.”

“You’re not whining. It’s different, anyway. I never knew my mom and my dad was useless,” she explained. After realizing what she said, she cringed. “Sorry. That was probably insensitive.”

She shook her head. “I understand. Do you remember your dad?”

“Some,” Lexa said. “When my sister and I were both home, we steered clear of him as much as possible. She’s never actually told me, but I think he…hurt Anya, at least when I wasn’t around. She was so insistent that we stuck together when we were both there.”

Clarke cringed. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

Lexa laughed, but it wasn’t necessarily due to humor. “We’re doing a lot of apologizing tonight.”

“Let’s make a pact,” Clarke said, suddenly perked up. “No more apologizing for feelings.”

“I think I can handle that.”

“Good,” she said with a semi-sad smile. 

It was quiet, though not an uncomfortable silence this time. Both were exhausted from all of the emotions. Clarke’s eyes were red and swollen from the hours of crying. Lexa wanted to suggest that they eat something, considering how late it was getting, but she didn’t feel like moving. Instead, she resumed twirling a strand of Clarke’s hair around her finger. 

“What are you thinking about?” Lexa eventually asked. After everything, she wasn’t really afraid of the answer anymore; it couldn’t get much worse.

Clarke shrugged. “My mom.”

“What about her?”

She thought for a few seconds before saying, “After the accident, we grew apart. I mean, we weren’t super close before, but it was like a wall was built between us afterward. She was grieving and I spent forever feeling guilty.”

“Why guilty?”

Clarke bit her lip, which Lexa was learning was her tell for trying not to cry. She wondered yet again if she had crossed a line.

“At first, I thought she wished that it was me that didn’t make it,” she said, brutally honest. She refused to make eye contact with Lexa. “After a while, I started wishing that it was me instead.”

“Clarke…”

She gave her another sad smile. “I’m okay now, for the most part. I just spent months wishing I could trade places with him. I would have given anything to have him alive, even if it meant taking his place. My friends got me through it since my mom couldn’t. I’m surprised they didn’t get sick of me after being a mess for so long.”

“I think it’s normal to be sad after losing someone you’re that close to,” Lexa argued.

Clarke shrugged. “‘Depressed and borderline suicidal’ is probably more accurate than ‘sad’ but you’re probably right. I suppose they probably figured that if they talked me down so many times, eventually I would be okay.”

Lexa was quiet, still not completely sure what to say. The silence made Clarke self-conscious and uneasy.

“Sorry, I should probably shut up.”

“No apologizing,” she reminded her. “And, if it counts for anything, I’m glad you’re still here.”

“Me too,” she said with a smile that was actually genuine. “By the way, the anniversary is coming up, so you can expect a lot more crying until it passes, so you have that to look forward to. I won’t blame you if you were to block me, move out of the country, and never speak to me again.”

Lexa laughed at her sarcasm. “That’s not going to happen.”

“What if I show up at your door at three in the morning?”

“I’m usually awake anyway, so the company would probably nice.”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Even if I rudely show up unannounced and then take over your bed like I’m doing right now?”

“There’s plenty of room for two.”

“That’s only when you’re here. Somehow I doubt your sister would appreciate 3am wake-up calls.”

Lexa shrugged. “She’s hardly ever there, so it doesn’t matter.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she said incredulously. 

Lexa gawked at her. “How does that make me ridiculous?”

“It just…does.”

“Well, if telling someone that they’re always welcome to come over is ridiculous, call me the most ridiculous person you know.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds like I’m the ridiculous one,” she laughed.

“You are,” Lexa agreed with a laugh.

Clarke just rolled her eyes in amusement and decided not to argue. She was being ridiculous, after all. Anyone outside of her main group of friends would kick her to the curb after getting tired of hearing about her sadness. It was the first time she really did feel comfortable talking about the feelings she was so used to keeping hidden away.

“I think we need something to eat,” Lexa decided.

The random thought caught Clarke off guard, but she agreed. “You mean you can’t survive off of only chocolate?” she joked.

“I wish,” she said. She grabbed her phone to see what time it was. “Considering the time, it looks like our only options are ordering pizza or cereal prepared by yours truly.”

“Cereal it is. I’m sure you make an amazing bowl of cereal.”

Lexa sat up and said, “I have many talents and that does happen to be one of them.”

“You are quite talented,” Clarke agreed.

She got up from the bed, planning on grabbing their late night dinner. However, as she stood up, she remembered her conversation with Raven. She said not to say anything, but she couldn’t pass up tormenting Clarke just a little bit.

“By the way, you should watch what you tell your friends,” she said, purposely sounding mischievous.

Clarke’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Raven,” she realized. “What did she tell you?”

“Nothing,” she said again.

Clarke tried to think back to anything incriminating that she may have said, but her mind was coming up blank. Then she remembered a few nights before, when she was at Octavia’s and had one too many to drink. Even though she couldn’t remember anything too bad, that didn’t necessarily mean that she hadn’t said anything.

“Seriously, what did she say?”

Lexa shrugged nonchalantly. “Nothing.”

“You wouldn’t have brought it up if she hadn’t said anything,” she pointed out.

“That could be true, unless I was just making it up.”

Clarke was racking her brain with trying to remember whatever she possibly could have said. “I guess I’ll just have to ask her then.”

She went to get up in order to get her phone, but suddenly Lexa was sporting the evilest grin she’d ever seen. As much as it made her question whether Raven had said anything at all, she wasn’t taking any chances. However, the second she stood up, Lexa made a run for the living room. Clarke found herself chasing after Lexa, laughing every step of the way.

**********

Two hours later, they found themselves crawling back into bed, this time for the rest of the evening. Both were mentally and emotionally exhausted. Clarke was grateful that Lexa refused to let her go home, though she wouldn’t have expected anything else. She knew her mind would start running again if she were left home alone – at least here she would have someone with her, rather than suffering through it alone. Lexa was afraid that Clarke would start panicking again on her ride home and possibly end up getting hurt. Plus, Lexa wouldn’t be lying if she said she missed not sleeping alone.

As Lexa curled up on her side, she waited for Clarke to get comfortable before wrapping an arm around her and getting herself comfortable. “I guess I don’t have to beg you to be my big spoon this time,” Clarke noted. 

“I suppose not,” she said. “But I’ll have you know that the second I know you’re asleep, I’m going on a scavenger hunt for my phone.”

Lexa chuckled. “No, you’re not.”

“Why is that?”

“I wake up too easily. I’ll wake up if you move even an inch.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” she challenged.

Lexa knew better. After they finished their cereal, Lexa snuck the phone into the Cheerio’s box and placed the box on the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet – far too high up for Clarke to reach with her short stature. She would give it back to her in the morning, but she just enjoyed teasing her a lot more than she expected.

“I thought I was the slick one,” Clarke huffed.

She smiled into the darkness. “You’re the one who can maneuver a child’s playground without breaking anything. I’m just good at hiding things.”

“What can I say? I’m flexible.”

She laughed and said, “Go to sleep.”

“You’re distracting me.”

“How am I distracting you?”

Clarke rolled her eyes even though Lexa couldn’t see. “You keep talking,” she said as it were obvious.

“I’ll stop talking then.”

The silence lasted a mere ten seconds before Clarke broke it. “Now it’s too quiet.”

“I can’t be quiet and talk at the same time,” she laughed.

Clarke sighed. “I’m probably not going to sleep much.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Just be here,” she answered almost instantly.

Lexa pulled her closer and sought out her hand, which she noticed was becoming natural for them…not that she minded. “I think I can handle that,” she murmured for the second time that night.

“Me too,” Clarke whispered, mostly to herself. 

Clarke was right when she said she wouldn’t get much sleep. It was her pattern – have a breakdown of some sort, crash, and then stay wide awake for a day or so. Normally she would be stuck awake with racing thoughts surrounding her dad and reliving the entire day that he died. It was a vicious cycle that, no matter how much she expected it once she felt the spiral starting, still threw her off for days. Normally that cycle would result in her being unable to sit still or stop crying and shaking. 

This time, though, she was able to breathe her way through it. Not spending the long night alone was what kept her sane – even though Lexa was out cold, she would still unconsciously squeeze Clarke’s hand tighter if she started to fidget. The small gesture kept her grounded.

The fact that she actually felt loved and cared about for the first time in years probably helped, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome all comments, thoughts, and criticisms. :)


End file.
